The Chess Master
by Julia Fernandez Hiwatari
Summary: Lin Kon, the daughter of Ray and Mariah, has just transferred to a new school in Japan, Whitney Prep school. Times have changed and the once all-boys private institution is now co-ed. But a secret lurks within its old stone walls, and since they have a chance to talk, what will they say?
1. Chapter 1

The Chess Master

Chapter One: Signs

Their first day back was cold, the overcast sky making sure the air held quite a chill. Drenched and dried dead leaves squished, as well as crunched, beneath the steps of everyone who walked the massive, foggy laden grounds. Various disembodied voices were a buzz with typical teen chatter as the student body made their way into the looming building.

A lanky, rather young girl with long, thick pink hair made her way up to the lockers, her locker mainly. That of which sat closest to the double doors, the first one on the right. Her exuberant and exotic cat-like eyes scanned over the lock as she entered the code and pulled it open, her books and the like having already been brought in the day before by the staff and her host family.

"There's my Mountain Cat!"

Lin jumped at the energetic arms coming around her tiny shoulders. If she hadn't heard him first she would've drop kicked the city boy.

"Hi, Kaitus." Lin said as she turned to the athletic man, his long and greasy slick-back hair sticking to his big head as usual.

She briefly glanced back to grab her Algebra 1 and Geography textbooks then she slammed her locker shut, spinning her lock so it would click on its own.

"How's the adjustment going?" Kaitus asked, flashing his pearly whites to her. He followed her as she walked to her first period which sat a few rows and a couple of doors down.

"Its going fine. My host parents say it'll still take a couple of weeks for me to really get used to things. Can't be as hard as learning Japanese and English."

"You don't speak any of those at home?"

"I'm from a mountain village in China, located near the outskirts of Hong Kong, so no. I speak Mandarin."

Kaitus blushed, his onyx eyes moving to the floor and over to a crowd of mousy girls squeezing themselves over some model in an old magazine.

"I see. Maybe you could teach me?" He dared a glance back at her.

"Sure." Lin said, giving him a bright, fanged smile of her own.

The bells rang as they made their way in. Lin swallowed her nerves. It wouldn't be easy but she could do this.

Come Noon, it was time for lunch so Lin made her way down the stairs to the cafeteria but she was no longer in a good mood. That had vanished with their Geography instructor, a Mr. Micheal Summers.

"What an ass." The sixteen-year-old grumbled to herself as she walked down the old stone steps. In this part of the school, every sound bounced off the walls as if it were an empty room.

Feeling a chill as she turned to go down the second set of steps, Lin stopped, seemingly frozen in place. Hearing a line of cracklings, she fearfully turned to see the window behind her freezing over in a thin layer of ice. It wasn't that cold out yet was it?

Then she looked at the top of the steps to see a tall shadow standing there. The figure had no face or detail, it was just fuzzy. In a lightening fast blur she watched as it descended the stairs, coming toward her. Within the shadow a bloody and horribly burned hand reached out, on the cusp of brushing the buttoned up navy green blazer covering her white top and red tie. Her black legging covered knees trembled, this couldn't be happening.

"Lin? There you are."

Her head snapped to Kaitus coming up to the stairs.

"Kaitus." She squeaked out, half in fright and half in relief.

A look of concern creased his Russian features as he stepped closer to her. "What's up? You look pale, ya okay, cat?"

He put a hand to her forehead and said, "You're clammy. Come on, I'll pay for your lunch and if you're still not feeling better after I'll take you to the nurse."

Lin nodded, still in shock. Kaitus smiled warmly and put one arm under her legs, careful to hold her skirt too, while the other one went around her shoulders. With little effort he pulled her to him, her hold on him being light, near limp.

Hushed whispers met her ears as the two entered the room. Kaitus sat her down at a corner table as he went to go get their food. A minute later he came back.

While animatedly placing them down he said, "Alright my gorgeous wild cat. On the menu is a big ol' mega stuffed burrito, a large burger with seasoned fries, and a jumbo s'mores milkshake with not one but _two_ maraschino cherries!"

Lin flashed him a grin, brushing off her nerves. "This looks great! Thank you, Big K."

Kaitus put his loosely balled hands to his widening mouth. "Aww! My own nickname? I'm flattered."

Lin laughed as she chomped into the double decker burger. Kaitus was a huge blessing.

Kaitus watched her eat, the warmth he felt filling his empty stomach. His head rested into the palm of his right hand, his eyes gleaming with untold feelings.

Feeling a cold spot at his right, he kept the bubbling anxiousness hidden.

**"... Sorry."** Came a whispery, husky voice. It sounded male but he wasn't entirely sure. Sorry? Was that what scared her? Were the random rumors he'd heard floating around here actually true?

That jolted him straight, making his insides go frigid. On the outside though, he kept up that happy demeanor, not wanting to spoil their moment.

Before the two knew it, Monday was done. So, being that they lived in the dorms a block down, decided to walk. The leaves were still falling so Kaitus had the bright idea to use his umbrella. He had to protect what he held dear.

"Was it good? Are you still full?" Kaitus asked, noticing the girl rub her slightly distended tummy, her beige skirt, swaying as the two walked a step off from each other, his much broader than hers.

"Oof, yes I am. I'm surprised I was able to finish it all." She looked at him quizzically knitting her thin brows together. "But why didn't you eat anything?"

"Good, and I already ate."

She blinked. "You did?"

He looked her in the eyes and said, "Mhmm. Got all I wanted."

Lin smiled. "You better have. I don't want to have to kick your ass in gear again."

Kaitus laughed. "I did don't worry. My eating disorder is behind me." Underneath the smile his stomach sank, knowing he'd just lied to her killed him and it'd eat at him for the next little while.

Lin had come to live in Japan about a six months ago. Her host family, the Hiwataris, were his next door neighbors. From what he understood, they'd turned their son's workout room into her bedroom. Mrs. Hiwatari saying at a dinner one night that his actual room was to remain untouched until he returned from his exchange program. It was odd, it all sounded funny to him. It was like they were hiding something, Mr. Hiwatari specifically. If he were to be honest with himself, he'd always rubbed him the wrong way and he didn't really like Lin staying with them. Luckily they were allowed to stay in the dorms. He only really had to worry about her during holidays and stuff now.

Stopping just outside her dorm room, Kaitus put his hands behind his back and looked around nervously, his two-tone dark purple and black hair moving to frame his face a bit more, covering his black sideburns and some of the stubble. The gel he used must be wearing off, just great.

"Hey, cat?" He asked, keeping her attention.

"Yes?" Her heart was pounding. What did he want to ask her?

"Would you like a kiss?" He felt his face burn flush but he stood his ground.

"Huh?" Lin breathed out in shock, her own light tan face heating up.

Kaitus leaned in closely, a tender but playful smile on his face. He held out his hand in between their chests, his Stetson scent wafting around her.

"Here you are." He stood back, his grin widening.

Lin looked down to see a jumbo sized chocolate kiss resting in the palm of his right hand. She smiled as she took it. He really was a sweetheart. She was so lucky to have met him.

With a soft peck on his cheek she said, "I'd love one."

She opened her door and went inside, leaving a flustered Kaitus out in the hall. Has she really just done what he thought she had? Then he smiled brightly, feeling bubbly, and made his trek to his room. If this was any indication as to how Freshman year was going to go, he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

**To be continued... **

**This a group project between LuxahHeart and myself. I love working with her! We hope you all enjoyed this first chapter. Feel free to leave your thoughts below! ^^ **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Happenings

It was Friday night, meaning they'd made it through their first week of Hell, uh school. Nothing had happened since the hallway incident, so the pinkette had just brushed it off as a one-time thing.

Her brush stokes were light, soft, going down toward the floor with ease. The tangles were long gone, now she was just passing time it seemed. The clock on the wall ticked for the millionth time, the hands reading five after 9:00.

Out of the corner of her right eye Lin saw a blurry image in the reflection of the mirror. It stood tall, just over her shoulder for a split second. The mirror seemed cracked as if someone had punched a hole right over the person's face. Squinting, she could only make out colors, not really any defining shapes. Was that slate? Blue-ish gray? Black? In shock she turned around but saw nothing, no one. Snapping back to her mirror she bolted to her small feet. What? The crack was gone and the _thing_ was too. Again, she felt cold like she was outside in nothing but her undergarments, but the room's air conditioner was set at 75ºF.

There was a set of light knocks at her door, and that made her jump out of her skin.

"C-co-come in." Lin rattled out, her heart on the verge of busting out of her chest. She was sweating and could feel the color draining from her face.

In a split second Kaitus appeared, making a grand entrance with his arms out above his head and his trademark grin stretching his face. Until everything fell, the room feeling anything but light. His arms slowly came down to his sides and his features contorted into a look of concern at the girl's appearance.

"What's wrong?"

Lin blinked, surprised to see him. "I-I'm fine."

She watched as her friend went from the door and over to her, his shoulders stiff. Now it was her turn to be concerned. "Did your mom call again?"

Kaitus shrugged as he made himself comfortable in the desk chair, making sure to face her.

"Yup, same old same too. Barely a 'hi how are you'."

Her brows furrowed. "Oh no. I'm so sorry. Anything I can do?"

Lin sat on her bed, her father's old teeshirt falling off one of her shoulders. "Shall I call in for some pizza and a B-movie?"

Realizing that was a no-go, she opted for another angle, one that always seemed to do the trick. She smiled sweetly and said, "Wanna talk about it? I'm all ears, and they're pointy ones too so that makes it even better."

"Not much to talk about, she thinks I'm her bank. Snaps her fingers and feels I should give in, just because she gave me life she expects a hand out. I just gave her money at the start of the month. Where'd it all go _this time_?" Kaitus answered, swiveling in the desk chair some, his feet dragging along the red hardwood floor.

"But some pizza and a B-movie sounds good, just too bad we have to take a rain check for that. And anyways, you okay? You looked like you saw a ghost when I came in."

Lin went cold at the mention of the word ghost, reminding her of recent events. If that man wasn't an angel or her only friend she'd kill him.

She fiddled with her thumbs, her palms moistening from the anxiety. "Um, I'm not sure what I've been seeing lately." She flashed him a nervous smile. "But it sure is something."

Kaitus leaned forward, intrigued, and a bit scared himself if he were honest. "What's going on, cat?" Her nickname always seemed to bring out a good reaction but it seemed tonight wasn't his night.

Lin swallowed the lump in her throat and fell into her pillows tiredly. Then she restlessly sat up in a panic, going to her knees as she animatedly moved her arms and manicured hands while talking. "In the hallway last Monday there was this shadowy figure coming down the stairs and out of it came this burned and bloody hand that reached out at me and then tonight with my mirror! There was this, this, _thing_ watching me. It had no face! Then it vanished! I'm totally freaking out! Whatever is going on here is _not normal_!"

Kaitus rose a brow at the spew of speedy words flying out of her mouth, taking it all in before the corner of his lips turned into a smirk. "Cat, c'mon I know this place isn't that great looking and it's old as The Hills, but there's no ghosts here."

Tears filled her eyes and she dramatically bellowed, "I _know_ what I saw! But if its not a dead _thing_ then what did I see?!" She went forward, her knees tipping over the edge of her bed, and desperately gripped Kaitus's camouflage jacket. "Help me, big K!"

Kaitus put his hands on her upper arms, stabilizing the both of them before they toppled to the ground.

"It's okay, cat, there's nothing here I promise you. You're going to be fine, there might have just been something in your eyes... It's okay."

Lin frantically shook her head at him. "No its not okay! I know what I saw." She looked away for a second. "Well no I don't." Then back at him. "But I know I didn't imagine it."

Feeling uneven, Lin toppled forward and felt heat surrounding her. This was nice. Then there was a small thud.

The world seemed to stop when she saw that he was under her, the closeness making her body flush red.

"Should I take you to the nurse?" Kaitus asked as he froze under her weight, the back of his head having knocked against the floor and was left to stare up at the dated popcorn ceiling.

Lin moved off to one side and hushed out. "Just stay here a while."

Just then she heard the hum of Kaitus's phone and watched as he got up and angrily paced around the room while he spat Russian into the receiver. From his face she could guess who he was talking to, his mother and that broke her heart.

Someone so loving didn't deserve to have such a sucky life. Anytime he was close to getting away, she pulled him right back in. This cycle was awful to see. Now she understood why he developed that monstrous eating disorder. Though he eventually went to the Feeding Clinic across town at her pleading. Eating, it was all he truly had control over. Everything else was all _her_.

Once he hung up, there was a deep, audible growl, but she couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from. Then the door slid back a small degree and loudly slammed shut, shaking the room. She saw Kaitus's features harden further. What was he thinking?

"Are you okay?" Lin asked, shakily rising from the floor.

Kaitus turned to her with a soft smile and said dotingly, "Get some sleep. Rest assured you'll feel better." After that he left, closing the door gently.

With the close of his bedroom door Kaitus slumped to the floor with a drained sigh, his head falling back against the white wood. Leave it to his mother to make him depressed again. Vitaliya Hiwatari, a good mother, what a joke? All she did was use him, just like everyone else in his rotten family. If it wasn't manual labor from the _neighbors_ it was asking for money to _help_ with this or that. If it wasn't verbal lashings it was being their chauffeur, and so on and so forth. This whole mess felt like it was never gonna end, that this was part of his unchangeable lot in life and he'd better learn how to deal with it, suck it up, grow a pair.

Reluctantly rising to his feet, he made his way to his bed, shuffling along the floor. He plopped down on top of his bed, not even removing his shoes, and sunk into his pillows. With the way he felt the deep sleep he'd been craving was quick to take him and he was grateful for it.

His eyes snapped open and he bolted upright in chills, coated in a sheet of cold sweat, at the bloodcurdling scream that had just filled his ears. Like before, it sounded male but he wasn't sure. More importantly where did it come from?

Hesitantly, he looked around for something but only saw the red numbers on his alarm clock flashing 2:30AM. And though he felt eyes on him he couldn't spot anything. Chalking it up to stress, he ran a hand through his damp hair and unsteadily made the way into his tiny bathroom. Maybe a shower would help? At any rate, it was worth a try.

Stripping, he turned on the shower, gradually turning the aged dial on the tile to the left. He wanted this one piping hot.

In seconds he'd lathered his shoulder length hair beneath the steamy rain and rinsed it out just as fast. The feeling of being watched became stronger every time he closed his eyes. He swore if he opened the curtains he'd see something, someone standing there halfway between the door and him. The overall atmosphere was harsh, like whatever was with him was angry and also amused that he was uneasy. Its like the presence was laughing at his fear and saying, _Yeah, I'm right here, what can you do about it? _

Then the feel of the room shifted, the 'eyes' moved closer. The water shut off, the sparse drips soon ceasing. In the silence Kaitus heard shallow breathing coming from behind him, the heat blowing the hairs on the base of his neck. But before he could turn around a dismembered forearm, a muscular right one, came around his throat and forcefully pulled him to the back wall, firmly pinning him to the icy, humid tile.

With his air supply being cut off so abruptly, Kaitus began to uncontrollably cough, doing his best to inhale. He felt more heat on his ears and the arm tightened its hold, pressing harder. The arm then let go and he went on all fours to the floor, holding his throat as he took in the much needed air.

Out of the corner of his left eye he saw what appeared to be an athletic and rather handsome, young man no older than he was, maybe seventeen at most, and he was wearing his school uniform.

He looked directly at the man and saw that he was right. Khaki pants with a black belt, a long sleeve white button up with a knotted red tie, and an open navy green blazer with the collars folded down. On his feet were dark brown military grade boots. They seemed a tad worn at the sole and dried mud was caked on the steeled toes.

The arm that had held him down reappeared, attaching itself in a winding spectral mist, resting at the ivory pale youth's side. His crimson eyes, though lifeless, bored heatedly into him. So much so that Kaitus began wondering if he was really looking at him, seeing him. His scowl was stern, saying just what level of 'unhappy' he was on. The mysterious man was livid, but why and at who? His mullet-esque two-tone hair was similar to his own. Shoulder length and black at the back with a dark blue or an offset slate kind of gray at the front.

**"Stay away from that girl."** Warned the man in his deep voice.

Kaitus's eyes widened in realization... The anguished scream, that 'sorry' it was all him. The offhand rumors were true. Knowing who he was talking about Kaitus scowled, moving to stand at his full height, the same as the man.

"And if I don't?" He spat, knowing for a fact Lin wasn't just seeing things.

The defining features disappeared while the lights flickered off and on in rapid succession. Kaitus's visitor had suddenly become paler, sickly and transparent, his eyes and mouth appeared black and hollowed out. The specter raised a hand and swiped it at him angrily while vanishing.

Immediately, Kaitus felt a burning sensation in the upper part of his left arm and dashed over to the mirror. In it he spotted four scratches that seemed to get darker as the searing tingling intensified. While watching the wound in mirror the shower flared back up again, turning on and running like it had before. Steam coated the room as he locked eyes with his reflection. _This_, whatever it was, couldn't be good.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Boy and the Book

"_I watched as the teenager's face froze in silent realization. This young man saw that he was truly about to be murdered. The look of terror on his pale face was splendid. I can't even begin to state how much joy it brought me, how warm it made my insides feel. With glee I pulled the hammer of my gun back and with a deafening click I moved the trigger. _

_The first shot missed, flying by his luscious locks as he awkwardly rolled and tumbled off to one side, doing his damndest to escape my clutches. I fired again as he made his way for the stairs toward the dormitories. Now that second bullet, it hit its mark, right into his spine. Oh the sound of the bones splitting, shattering all while he screamed in agony. He plummeted to the splintery wooden steps like a thrown doll. As he crawled away, using only his arms to move now, I found myself on the edge of climaxing. This, all of it, was orgasmic. As I followed him up I slowed my pace to that of an elderly man, my sinister gaze fixated on the trail of rivering crimson as well as the groaning and sputtering individual it was coming from. _

_I fired again, getting him in his right leg just under the back of the knee, God the euphoria of his pain filled and pleading shouts! While I chased my prey further up and down the hall I remember thinking how I never wanted this to end, but sadly, all heavenly things have to. Seeing he'd approached his room I kindly opened the door and harshly kicked him in, enjoying his grunts and groans. _

'_What's the matter, young master? Can't move can you? Oh, what a shame?' _

_I point the barrel of my 45 at him, my typical grin stretching my aging features. I put the barrel to his head. Right in between his gorgeous scarlet eyes. _

'_Please, no. Don't, I'll do anything you want!' He tears up, the panic finally setting in. 'Just please don't kill me.'_

'_Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you.' I pull out a match and strike it on the sole of his left shoe after I pour my flask of Rum over him. _

'_This will... Good night.' I toss the flickering match on his soaked body. _

_I watch as he writhes around and does anything he can to pull out the consuming blaze. _

_After a bit I find myself pitying him so I dump some water from a nearby bucket on him, saturating him and the embers. No matter, all this means is that my fun is extended." _

Lin closed the book she was reading, done with the fourth chapter. The clock by her bed was flashing 1:24AM. Her reading lamp was on, giving her all she needed to read the size twelve font of what she'd gotten two weeks ago. She turned the paperback book to and fro in her hands going over the wording on the front and back of it.

"'_The Russian's Roulette. By, Boris Balkov._'" She read aloud. "'_The first of three volumes in this spine tingling murder series. This volume tells the tale of a rich man who, after loosing all his wealth through gambling, goes insane and murders some of his colleague's family members._'"

Lin opened the book back up, something inside of her unable to put it down. She knew she had to sleep but she could just go to bed early tonight. At least that's what she'd reasoned.

"_Chapter Five: Games. _

_My gaze roams over him as he groans and tries to move away from me but is in so much pain that he can't. _

'_Your spine has been severed. You can't runaway now. That's good news for me.' _

_With some squeaks and a few hoarse moans, my victim finds the strength to speak._

'_Yes?' I egg him on, knowing how difficult it is. This is my favorite part of murder." _

"Ouch!" Lin shouted, suddenly dropping the thick dark green and silver lettered book onto the floor.

She looked to see smoke coming from the item. The smell of it became stronger the closer it got to her current page, like the flames were angry. In a panic she reached for the glass of water on her nightstand to put the book out before it caught her room on fire. But as she was about to do so she realized the flames weren't touching anything but the book itself. What? There were no marks or anything on her sheets. She turned her hands over and back again. No, not even her hands were messed up.

She poured the water on it but it didn't go out, the flames kept burning. She leapt to her feet and kept dumping cup after cup of icy water on the blaze. Then the book went up in them. With an audible poof sound it turned to ash. She crouched down, surveying the small sand colored pile, it was as if someone had tossed a match on it. Since when did water not work on a normal fire?!

"Now what am I going to read?" She muttered bitterly, ignoring the fear that made her want to run out of the room and into Kaitus's strong arms. Wait, why Kaitus? She shook her head, her face becoming feverish. He was just a friend, a _friend_. Yeah, nothing more, nothing less.

Kaitus turned over on his bed, rolling on his left side for the millionth time in the last hour. This whole thing was nuts.

Before either could blink, Monday morning had come uneventfully quick. While bumping his bulky, blue computer bag laden hip on the door's body and frame, Kaitus noisily walked into Mr. Summers class. A tired Lin meeting his gaze from her seat by the large, frosted window.

"Mornin' lovely!" Kaitus said, his smile coming to. He felt amazing now, the weird and rather lonely weekend pushing itself to the back of his mind.

"Good morning." Lin said, doing her best to hide how she really felt. Nothing had happened after the book burning incident but nothing had to, that was enough. Hopefully nothing would happen again, but deep down she felt like she was wrong, oh so very very wrong.

"What's up, you not sleepin' good, cat?" Kaitus asked as he went to his seat next to her, the one to her right. He placed his bag on top of his desk, not wanting to fall out of it like he did earlier this morning. This stupidly heavy thing always left him, and others, leaning to one side as they went from class to class.

She flashed him a bright smile. "Yeah. I slept fine. What about you? Did your mom leave ya alone?"

Kaitus nodded. "Yeah, she did, uh-"

The sound of hard, steady steps coming up to them cut him off.

"Hello handsome! First day here? Don't worry we're new here too, only been here a week. Ninth graders. Come, sit with us!" Lin said, happily waving the youth over.

Lin and Kaitus watched as the tall man went by them silently, like he didn't even see them. He sat in the back row of the room on the far right and looked out the window.

Lin blinked a couple of times in shock and then scowled. "Well that was rude."

"Lin, hang on a minute. I'll go talk to him."

Kaitus got up and made his way over to the teen resting his chin in his hand like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Hey, what's up? We won't bite. Well I won't but Lin might. Just kidding! Seriously though, come sit with us. The lady wants you over and who could say no to a woman like that?"

A chill ran through the space between them and with the wisp of an unseen wind, their visitor disappeared.

Kaitus looked back at Lin in disbelief. He prayed she hadn't seen that. Had _he_ really just seen that?! He let out a breath of relief when he saw that she had her headphones out. Okay, she was listening to an audiobook. He went back to his seat to see her bright eyed and bushy tailed thumbing through a booklet. What, or who, was she fawning over?

"Have you ever been in love, Kaitus?" Lin cooed, removing her headphones and looking at him with a serine smile.

Kaitus rose a suspicious brow and he told her drily, "I have, I am. Why?"

"Listen to this man!"

Kaitus put the headphones she'd pretty much shoved at him on his elephant ears and listened intently to the deep, soothing voice. That, oddly enough, made him go cold and his entire being tinge. For some reason he felt uneasy and like he wanted to puke.

"_Chapter Two: Masculine Wiles _

_I charged at him with a fiery passion and put his youthful lips to mine. I put him on the bed and went to undoing his black, long sleeve top, letting my hands generously roam the warm pale skin with every inch of clothing I peeled away. In time his physical barriers were gone and with that I spread his creamy white legs, and then I-" _

Kaitus removed the expensive headphones and handed them back to her, fighting the urge to run out of the room and hurl his guts up. That was so disgusting.

"Cool! What book is it?" He asked, bearing his trademark mask.

The bells rang and more of their peers filed in, along with the Geography teacher.

The long haired, gray splotched redhead took one look at his chalk board and yelled, "I want to know who keeps drawing the many male genitalias next to my signature on here?! If no one comes forward by the end of the day, you're all getting detention."

There were groans about the room, along with puzzled glances. None knew what he was talking about but they sure found it funny. It fit him so well. He really was the big dick of the school.

At the end of class, Mr. Summers called out Lin for drawing inappropriate stuff on his board.

"Mr. Summers, I didn't do it. How could I? I've never even seen a..." Her face heated up and her eyes nervously shifted from one side to the other and then back to him. "Penis."

Micheal's face soured, his arms going over his average chest. "I highly doubt that Miss. Kon. I'm sure in that backwater, nudist village of yours you've seen plenty. And as old as you are I'm sure you get plenty too."

Kaitus held back his teapot whistling rage. He put a protective arm around her and subtly urged out into the hall. "You're a teacher. Talk about being inappropriate you could get fired for saying things like that."

Micheal shrugged. "Then _who_ drew that shit on my board. If it wasn't your little hussie then who was it?"

"I did it, sir." Kaitus told him bluntly.

"I don't believe you but I can't disprove it so, two weeks detention."

"Understood, sir."

Kaitus walked out of the room, but before he completely disappeared into the bustling crowd he turned back to the forty-something man. "Oh, and Mr. Summers?"

Said man was washing his board with a wet sponge. "Yes, Mr. Hiwatari?"

"Lin Kon is _from_ China so she _would_ know its layout better than you." He smirked at the enraged face he got in return and left chuckling, joining his mate in the ever-shifting flow of the student body.

After lunch, a two hour Study Hall for him, Kaitus decided to walk the hallway where Lin saw that shadowy figure. He wasn't sure why but he felt he should.

On the second set of steps he spotted him again.

"Are you just showing yourself to me or was that a three-dimensional hologram you projected into my bathroom and the classroom?" He asked, the teen taking a bite out of his tuna salad sandwich. Huh, did he not hear him?

"Helloooo?" Kaitus waved his hand in front of his face as he chewed slowly, trying to get his attention again. Once more there was a cold spot and the guy vanished.

While sitting in silence he heard invisible footsteps rushing up and then down the stairs like whoever owned them was trying to get to class on time, or get away from something. Okay, that was odd.

The following Friday night, Kaitus was in his room, having just got back from serving another round of detention with that cursed teacher.

"Son of a bitch!" He shouted while he kicked over his nightstand, smashing the lamp on it.

Tears fell down his face as he felt the familiar vibration in his pocket. No, no, no, _she_ was the last thing he needed!

"What?!" He screamed into the phone, doing his best to hide his sobs.

"Bad times in detention, huh?" The gravely voice calmly stated.

"Uncle? What do you want?"

"The principal couldn't get a hold of your mom again so he called me. I want to hear your side now. What's going on? I got a call about Lin too stating that she was sick and to come get her."

"Yeah. Lin's on her period. Its a rough one."

"I see. Well I'll call her father and see what he wants me to do, but for now, I'm gonna drop by your place. We need to talk, man-to-man. You with me?"

"Yes, sir, but its past curfew for visitors."

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning then."

"Okay."

The call ended and Kaitus fell face-first onto his bed, sleep quick to take hold of him.

"_I take in the flushed, unhappy image beneath me but ignore the latter of it, his clammy skin against mine is what I'd call utopia, it feels just as good as I imagined. I've always wanted this but people kept getting in my way. No matter, I got him in the end. Besides this is better they'll pay for taking it all away from me and it'll be through him..._

_Chapter Three: The Plan Unfolds." _

Lin pressed Pause on her MP3 Player and stretched along the length of her bed, her stiff joints popping a bit.

"That was a good chapter."

There was pop and then fizzling type of sizzle noise.

"OW!" Lin yelped as the electric shock went through her.

She yanked out her earbuds and looked down to see her pink player fried and smoking like someone had burned it from the inside out.

"Damnit! My folks are gonna cook me alive!" She whined in a panic. Now how was she going to spend the rest of her night? Oh well, at least her cramps were finally gone.

* * *

**This has been such fun to do so far. My deadline for this is Halloween, November 1st at the latest. **

**LuxahHeart, thank you for doing this with me and making it awesome! I forgot to mention it but last time she RPed the Kaitus and Lin dorm room scene with me. She was Kaitus and I was Lin. Thanks again girl! ^^ I hope you guys are enjoying this so far! Let me know what you think! ^^ **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Family Fairs

There was a soft set of knocks at her window come 5:00AM. With a grumpy groan Lin sat up, her head bobbing dizzily. She opened her window and shuffled back to bed.

Kaitus was on the track team and ran at the ungodly crack of dark to keep in shape. When she first met him he'd tapped on her window and she nearly called the police because she'd only known him a few months and thought him perverted. But when she learned that he just wanted to hang out instead of going home, she was cool with it.

As she pulled the comforter back over her shoulders, she felt a set of gentle taps on her upper arms.

Screwing her eyes tightly she grumbled out, "Kaitus Hiwatari, if you don't let me sleep I'll smother you with my mother's pushup bras."

A deep, humorous chuckle filled her ears, and she bolted upright in fright, freezing. That wasn't Kaitus.

Susumu Hiwatari signed the visitors login book at the front office and then signed Kaitus out. He calmly made his way up the stairs to dorm room number 28. He knew Lin lived down the hall and around the bend in a pocket corner in dorm room number 32 but he'd leave her be for now. Ray was on his way so he could handle her.

He boldly knocked on the door and when he heard movement, a bed sinking down on the other side, he opened the door.

"Morning." Susumu said as he spotted Kaitus sliding on his boots as he leaned over the edge of his bed.

"I signed you out incase you wanted to go anywhere."

"Mm, thank you, uncle." Kaitus said, not looking up at him.

"You okay?" Susumu said as he approached the mumbler, his face showing concern.

"M'fine."

His nephew was barely moving his lips, something was definitely up. Susumu cleared his throat, causing Kaitus to glance in his direction, and for a moment he thought he was in trouble.

Those dark eyes piercing into him sent him back to the night he saw that ghost in his shower, when the detached arm almost rendered him unconscious, and he was proven wrong.

"Before you scold me, can we talk?" Kaitus started.

Susumu shrugged, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his long but thick gray coat. "Sure, but first-things first... Would you like some coffee?"

Kaitus looked at him in tired bewilderment. "Huh?"

"You look like Hell. Want some coffee?"

Kaitus wouldn't argue with that. He felt like it too so he nodded to show he complied and rose to his feet, standing a head taller than his visitor.

It was just past 9:30 in the morning and he had to be back no later than 7:00 this evening. That was fine, they had plenty of time to chat. Or, in this case, Kaitus reripping an already broken man's heart out. This day wouldn't end well, he could feel it in his bones.

Kaitus walked out and Susumu followed, watching him closely. This wasn't good. The last time he was like this was when Lin had first arrived, when his eating disorder was at its worst. Maybe he wasn't better and he did all that just to save face and leave? He prayed that wasn't the case, he couldn't bear to lose another one.

As they drove down and through a winding intersection, Susumu looked over at the man who was lost in his own world. He was peering through the fogged up window.

"Kaitus?" He reached out and lightly backhanded his arm with his bony knuckles, his way of tapping when at the wheel. He didn't slap him.

Kaitus's gaze snapped to him like he'd seen a monster and he let out a breath.

Pulling into their destination, Susumu jerked the car in park and locked the doors.

Turning to him he said, "What's with you, boy? You're spacin' out worse than Misaki on a good day, and that's saying something."

Kaitus's eyes went all around the vehicle before landing back on him, a look of apology in them. "What did, I mean, uh-"

"Are you sleeping? Are you eating?" Susumu rambled off, his parental instincts in full swing. "Do I need to call, Doctor Tend?"

Kaitus shook his head vigorously, his mind racing with panic. "No, no, I'm fine!"

Susumu fought back his own tears and took his hands to him. Cupping his bony, slightly angular cheeks, he held his clammy face still, making him look at him.

"Kaitus! You're not fine. I can see it. Something is seriously wrong. Look, I'm not here to scold you over getting detention, that's low on the list. As good a kid as you are it was probably the teachers fault anyway."

It all came out in short breaths, his brain on autopilot now. "I took the wrap because he falsely accused Lin of doing it. Insinuated horrible things about her and her culture. She was upset, so I just, I-"

Susumu rubbed his thumbs along the apples of his cheeks to keep him from crumbling, an understanding smile on his face. "I get it, its over, you're off the hook, we'll deal with it Monday. Now back to _you_, what's ailin' ya? You look like you ain't slept since you started school, and you've lost weight. What did I say would happen if you relapsed? I'm not upset if you did, I'm just worried."

Susumu saw that the store was open so he excused himself and went inside, leaving Kaitus to steady his thoughts, and the engine running.

He was right, he hadn't been sleeping, not since that night really. Despite falling asleep as soon as he'd hit the mattress, he'd be woken up by something an hour or two later. Be-it hard-soled footsteps going up and down the halls or hearing a disembodied voice talking. Sometimes he'd see a shadow figure or feel someone touching him. The Monday night after he kept seeing that _thing_ around the school grounds, when he went to take a shower he got rained on by what appeared to be blood. Thankfully no one heard him scream, he was able to hide it. Hide it like he did everything else, well, until now anyway. He fell back against his seat. This was gonna be harder than he thought if his nerves kept getting in the way.

Ray Kon signed the login book and made his way up to where Lin lived, a loaded security guard following him up to her door. The same was done with the boys too, unless they outright knew the family, and he liked that. He knocked and the moment the door opened, and then closed again, the older man found his buff arms full to the hilt with giddy girl.

"Hey, baby girl!" Ray said with a big smile.

"Hey, baba!" She boomed energetically.

"Ma'am?" They both looked at the security guard. "Is this your father?"

The two exchanged glances and each flashed him a big, fang filled grin as they said, "Yes."

The guard laughed at that. "Clearly. Thank you for your cooperation." With that he walked away, returning to his post by the main office.

Ray rubbed her back before ushering her into the room, shutting the door behind the two of them. He held out the duffle bag that had been hanging off his shoulder. Letting her take it to her bed while he took a brief glance around the room.

The air felt thicker than the rest of the school he had already been guided through, a slight chill in the air. The familiar feeling of being stabbed in the stomach got stronger than what it had been the moment he stepped foot in the room.

Ignoring it as it grew in intensity, an ever-graying Ray sat himself down in the desk chair where he could see her. His arm and neck hair stood on end, clearly aware of someone watching him as if they were looking over his shoulder.

"So, how are you?" Ray asked.

Lin placed the rattling and weighted midnight blue bag full of medicines, feminine products, and more clothes on her bed and stood tall with a gleaming smile. "I'm doing well more or less. Ain't seen much of Kaitus lately but he's been in detention. Took the wrap for drawing male privates on Mr. Summers's chalkboard. I know he didn't do it but no one else came forward and Mr. Summers tried to pin it on me."

Her mood dropped suddenly, and she deflated while remembering the events. She sat on her bed, her gaze lowering with her voice as she spoke, "He said some really bad stuff, about me too."

Ray frowned at what she was telling him. Stealthily, out the corner of his eyes, he watched a shadow stretch across the wall to his right. It was as if it was going towards her.

"What'd he say?" He asked in a neutral tone, even years later and Michael still wanted to stick his foot in his mouth, but mainly up his own ass. He'd handle it, of course he would, but he couldn't just barge in the classroom guns blazing without knowing the full story.

Lin's face heated up again. This couldn't be happening! "I told him I'd never seen one, and I haven't, but he didn't believe me. He said that in our backwater, nudist village I've seen plenty of... _Those things_. And, as old as I am I, I- I probably got plenty too."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and froze for a moment, sensing something behind her. Was someone watching her. As always, she never felt alone here.

Ray's pupils slit momentarily before he shook it off, the stabbing in his gut getting more intense as his emotions got meddled with his daughter and then whatever was in the room.

"Is that right?" He asked in a dark tone, trying to reel it in so as not to upset her. "We'll handle it, and make sure Kaitus has a proper apology too. We'll also see about getting you two in a different class." He said, his voice back down to his normal tone.

Brushing it off as post Pre Menstrual Syndrome she continued to speak, "Anyway, how's mom? When's the baby due? She's almost nine months, right?"

"Due pretty soon, and she's fine. Misses you, as do I and everyone else. So, if you want to come home just say so. I know the outside world isn't always what you expected it to be, but you'll always be welcomed back home." The moment he said that the shadow appeared, taller, behind Lin as if it were standing over her bed as it stretched along the wall to where the ceiling met it.

Ray's eyes glanced at it, taking it as if the person was trying to blanket her, keep her from leaving as Ray didn't sense any real danger coming from it. They were just hurt, alone, scared, but he wasn't sure if Lin knew she had an attachment or not. He had hoped his ability hadn't passed onto her, but it seemed it had.

"Can I ask you something?" He questioned, his eyes going back down to his daughter, the shadow still looming over the back of the wall behind her.

Lin nodded, feeling an icicle stab through her back but like always she ignored it. A sense of fear and uneasiness ran over her and she wrapped her arms around herself. This time, she couldn't get away, her dad was here and she had to be brave.

"I'll l-let you know if I wanna come home." She told him as she put on the school-issued royal blue hoodie that lay neatly folded up next to her.

"You cold?" Ray questioned, his suspicions starting to get confirmed. His eyes went back to the shadow that was still there and he narrowed his eyes at it in a silent threat to ease off. It must have seen the look, heading it, and shrunk it's self down and back to the middle of the room where the window was, ducking away quietly.

"A little, but its just hormones. No worries." Lin lied. He couldn't know, it'd worry him senseless.

"Anyway." She relaxed herself, not feeling quite so heavy. "What did you want to ask me?"

"Just, if you've been adjusting well. I know the first time out of the village can be a bit rough, we worry about you. Not sure if we made the right decision in letting you come all the way out here." Ray answered after a short silence between them, trying to make sense of the hormones spiel she had tried to pass it off as.

Her eyes shifted nervously and she looked at him bearing a sheepish grin. He was totally gonna kill her. "Um, my MP3 shocked me. And before that the book I bought spontaneously combusted. So yeah, those happened."

Ray sat there, stunned for a minute while his eyes went to where the shadow had been but now it was gone.

Staying grounded he blankly asked, "What book?"

Lin shrunk, her shoulders going into her ears. Oh yeah, she hadn't told him yet, oopsy.

"I bought a murder mystery novel told from the point of view of the murderer who gets off on killing people."

Seeing she wasn't about to become the night's meal, Lin beamed. "The first one is about a man who murders his colleague's family members for money. He spent it all gambling and blames them for it. He raped the teen and then chased him with a gun some days later. Then he sat his body on fire, tortured him some more and then set the room on fire. How the burned teen managed to set his pet bird free but not himself is beyond me. Anyway, after that he buried the body in the woods. I had to look up a lot of it because of what happened to my stuff but its super good. You should read it. Actually, I take that back, listen to the audio! That deep, aged voice of his is so entrancing. Boris Balkov is a genus writer! I'd love to know how he comes up with all that stuff! I mean, the description of the corpse, all-be-it morbid and kind of gross, was so brilliant! I wanna write like that! What do you think, baba? Cool, right?!"

Before Ray had even a chance to open his mouth the lights went out and the room felt as though the heat had been kicked up full blast.

"Just stay where you are." Ray said calmly but firmly as he stood up, going to the window to open it and let the hotter air out. However, when he tried to move it, it felt as though it was cemented shut. Invisible hands were pressing down on it while he went upward. It didn't even budge an inch even with it unlocked.

"Stop it, enough!" He shouted to thin air.

With a swirling motion to the right and a swoosh out the window the suffocating, humid heat vanished. The heat in the room vanished just as quickly as it had come, and the window suddenly popped open without him doing a thing.

Lin let out a shriek and Ray turned around to see something standing, or rather _someone_, he didn't think he would.

In front of him stood a tall and limp, disheveled looking man about seventeen-years-old. He looked furious and was covered in blood, it soaking into his shredded and moth-eaten school uniform. Blood pumped out of his ghastly wounds and ran down in seemingly endless steams, pooling at his shoes. Blood also ran out of his mouth; thickly coating his chin, neck, and charred torso to the point that it looked caked and tacky in some spots. His ivory pale skin was covered in red, scruffy burn patches, some layered on top of others, and bulbous blisters that looked ready to burst, the ones on his lower arms and hands were the worst. Blood caked on his fingertips too, looking like he'd dug at a wound or two. Dark circles made his dull crimson eyes look bleak and sunken in. Defensive wounds from what appeared to be a knife splotched his hands and the undersides of his arms. Blackened skin dangled from every possible area, like he'd ripped himself apart at some point, clawed at himself. Beneath the swinging flesh lay crumbling bone, some jutting out on places such as his knuckles, collarbone, and elbows. Below his right eye, more bone was exposed, as if he tried to dig out his eyes. Needless to say scratches were on him too, and bruises.

The smell of smoke, death, and freshly burned human- boiling meat and all -wafted through the room, along with the overwhelming stench of soured water, long set-in rot, and moldy mud.

Lin instantly felt ill and vomited onto her floor, all while her father stayed calm and collected, a trait she'd hoped to inherit one day.

* * *

**This was so much fun to do! Luxah and I RPed the scene between Ray Lin. As always her descriptions were spot on and left me with quite the chill. How lovingly fitting, lol. I loved doing this scene. How gross was Kai, gnarly right? **

** This was supposed to be one chapter but its so long it ended up being two. The other will be posted in the next day or two. I hope you all are enjoying this so far. R & R, I'd love to know y'll's thoughts on the story so far. Have a great day! **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Like Old Times

Susumu came back out and slid into his seat. He handed Kaitus his drink and a paper bag of what the kid assumed to be sweets or breakfast of some kind. He opened the bag, after putting the hot beverage between his legs, and saw a couple of big bacon, cheese, and egg croissants. His stomach twisted at the greasy, wet smell and he swallowed the ball of bile that had suddenly formed at the back of his throat.

They weren't close by any means but at least his uncle and aunt seemed to grasp the basic concepts of parenthood, unlike his mother.

"What's up?" Susumu tried.

Though the two had never met, he and his missing boy were so much alike it wasn't funny.

"Just, my mom." Kaitus lied, giving the man the bag back and taking a sip of his coffee. Surprisingly, his uncle had nailed his preference. Not too sweet but just enough sugar to take the core bitterness away. That man was something else, and for a moment he pondered how he knew, putting his mind and mouth back on the same track.

Susumu urged the bag back to him and sent him a stern look. "They're both yours, now eat. You know the rules, you have to eat three times a day, and from the sight of you, you haven't been... Is your mom bothering you again?"

As Kaitus chewed slowly, fighting the urge to vomit, he nodded.

Susumu let out an aggravated breath through his nose and watched his company silently. Another rule, someone had to be there when he ate... Oh that horrible woman! His older sister often sent her kid over there to do stuff they hadn't asked him to, and because they were put on the spot they just let him do it.

"What did she ask for now?" Susumu asked, happy to see that he'd gotten one down.

He may have struggled against the urge but Kaitus had won this battle and he was proud of him. Anorexia, bulimia? He wasn't entirely sure which he specifically had but it was clear something was going on and he was determined to not slip up again.

"She asked me for money." Kaitus said, after wiping his mouth with a brown takeout napkin.

Susumu went red but it wasn't at him, only the situation. "You just gave her some a couple weeks ago. Enough to cover her shopaholic ass, the utilities. Right?"

Kaitus shot him an icy glare. "Don't remind me."

"You didn't give her any did you?" He was practically begging him to say he didn't.

"What did you want me to do, she wouldn't stop calling." Kaitus snapped, done with being grilled.

"Well I'll soon fix that."

"How? Call me over to do more work?"

"That wasn't us that was your mother wanting you out of her way. And I'm sorry to say that but its the truth. We'd never do that to you."

He waited for a response, seeing the gears click together in his eyes.

"... Kaitus?" Susumu said after a bit of silence.

"What now?!"

Susumu's face went from stern to worrisome. "Are you sleeping okay?"

He fell back into his seat. "Oh for the love of God!"

The older man wasn't fazed. "I'm serious. Are you?"

He sat up and growled out, "No, I haven't been. I've had a _visitor_ all week."

Susumu matched his gaze. "If you're about to tell me that you and Lin slept together, I will _personally kick your ass_! What did we tell you two before you left?"

"You assuming idiot there's a ghost in my school!" Could this get any worse, geez!

Susumu gave him an unbelieving glance. "There's a ghost in your school?"

"Yes, and I'm not sure why but he hates me."

"_He_?" Susumu emphasized.

Kaitus nodded. "Yes, _he_... I'd heard rumors throughout the first day and even at orientation and the student tour but no one knows the tale behind how he died. We just see him walking the school, going to class, eating his lunch. Stuff like that, but here recently he's taken a liking to tormenting me, and doing anything he can to keep me away from Lin."

Susumu scoffed playfully, sensing an opportunity. "So does your uncle Ray."

"Uncle, I'm serious!"

He straightened up, seeing that he wasn't in a joking mood. Again, they were way too alike at times. "Alright, alright. Ask Kai about it. He liked reading that kind of stuff in the colder months." Susumu paused, realizing what he'd said. Then he muttered quietly, "That is, _if_ we ever find him."

It was like his core was screaming one thing while he tried to tell himself something else. He didn't want to admit it, for it to be true. He had to keep his faith strong and optimism high, not only for his own morale but his wife's too. It was coming up twenty years now, and that hope was dwindling, as well as his will to live.

Kaitus looked at him sorrowfully. The moment had come, it was now or never. "That brings me to my question then, why I wanted to talk."

Susumu eyed him up and down warily. "What's that?"

"What does your son look like?" Kaitus paused, treading carefully within the weighted yet exceptionally fragile atmosphere that crowded the already small car.

"Do you have a current picture of him on you?"

Susumu nodded, obviously fighting back tears as he shakily pulled out his wallet, roughly licking his lips to try and stifle the agony filled sobs.

"Thank you." Kaitus softly said as he took the picture.

He knew he'd hurt him, and it broke his heart to do this, but he had to know. The odd, random, things he'd heard the voice say and the timeline photos all about their home kept nagging at his brain.

"Lin, you okay?" Ray asked as he stepped towards her, though his eyes were on the figure that had finally made itself known to the two of them.

"I'm fine."

The young lady made her way to the bathroom, none stopping her as she went in and locked the door.

Kai's unmoving eyes somehow watched every movement. He waited silently for his _intruder_ to make the first move, then he'd make his.

"K-Kai... W... What happened?" Ray asked once the door was closed, turning to face the specter head on.

His legs felt weak, it had been years since anyone had seen him, heard from him. "We thought you just disappeared... Not... Not this..."

Like the flickering lights before, the ghost flashed statically in and out of view, vanishing completely after a few rounds. Then the lights came back on and everything flowed normally.

A moment later, the man came back into the intruder's line of sight, appearing pristine, as if he were alive... Solid, just like them. He sat on the edge of Lin's bed, his wrists blanketing his bony knees while his gangly hands rested limply between them.

**"Why don't you ask _her_."** He snapped.

It came out smoothly. Finally, it wasn't a hassle, a chore or a literal pain to talk. He had plenty of energy he could use, feed off of. He didn't have to struggle with this one.

Kai shot him an intense, fiery glare, emphasizing his mood. **"_She_ has the _book_!"**

Kai tossed his company the newly repaired player and waited for a response.

"She..." Ray paused, catching the player and stood there still in shock before his knees buckled and he knelt down in front of the seventeen-year-old. This wasn't right, Kai should be one year older than him! Entering his forties, not _here_! Forever young, as it were.

"Why are you still-?" Then it clicked for him. "Clearly you're stuck. You need to tell me what happened, let me help you, get you out of here."

There was a shattering noise somewhere in the recesses of his head, like a fist had punched a mirror, and Kai felt himself shatter... Fall into place. The part that was holding on, keeping him sane in this Hell, calmed him with reason as he recollected.

That's right, he'd died here while away. Packing to leave the country for some college credit exchange program. He was brutally tortured and murdered, all for a measly amount of money. And Boris Balkov was to blame, not them. But still, he couldn't help the hurt and abandonment he felt. Didn't they care? Why didn't they come looking for him? Was it all lies like Boris had said?

His gaze softened, he and his eyes appearing more lively this time, emotional. **"Why didn't you come looking for me? How long have I been...?"**

"We did. We did, Kai. We looked everywhere we could, tirelessly. We didn't know what happened, some people thought you died, others thought you just up and left. It's been... It's been a long time, that girl is my daughter, Lin." He said in a quiet voice, starting to feel drained with how much Kai was taking from him. Not that he really meant to.

Remembering most of what he'd heard students and staff say while passing by, it clicked. His eyes widened in disbelief.

**"Your daughter... I've been dead for- for twenty years?"**

Ray nodded, fighting back tears. "Yeah, around there." He answered as his head continued to bob up and down.

"So instead of you tormenting my daughter, tell me what to do and let me help you."

**"I wasn't trying to torment her. I just wanted to get her attention."** Kai defended, then his face soured. **"What you can do is get that man- Boris, kill him for me."**

Ray arched a brow, "What man?"

**"Don't play dumb with me! He hangs around with your kid! I've been protecting her from him! Boris is in the school looking to kill again, get _him_ before he gets _her_!"**

Ray wracked his brains, "You mean Kaitus?" He questioned.

**"Who the fuck is _that_?!"**

His brain reminded him of this morning. Lin had let him in when she opened her window, then she said something threatening that he found funny.

**"Who is Kaitus Hiwatari, and why does he look like my murderer?!"**

"I don't know why you'd think he looks like Boris, but he's your cousin. From your father's side." Ray said, shaking his head slightly. He went to stand but felt his balance slightly shift as he stepped back and almost fell down.

"Dammit..." Ray cursed, trying to grab something before he did fall and pulled the chair towards himself and sat back down with a huff. "He's Lin's best friend, he wouldn't hurt her."

**"What are you talking about, my aunt Vitaliya doesn't have any kids... Unless she had him after I croaked?"** Kai said, his Russian accent coming through a bit more when he said his aunt's name.

"She did." Ray stated plainly through another huff as if it was hard for him to breathe. "But she never said who the father was, wouldn't tell anyone. Your father and mother ended up taking Kaitus from her, more or less, because she's unfit. She still bothers him and he feels like he can't say no to her. That's all I know."

Kai rolled his eyes with a scoff, relaxing his frame to spar his old friend further torture. **"Well that's no surprise. All she ever did was fuck and gamble. His birth was probably the result of a one-night-stand, poor kid. I'll apologize later."**

Kai paused, letting Ray restore himself. **"Do you still want to know what happened? My view?"**

"Yeah, give me what you can remember." Ray nodded, taking deep breaths. "And make it quick, as much as I like seeing and talking to you again, it's wearing me out."

Kai smirked playfully, momentarily feeling alive and like himself again. **"Sure, but let me use that lamp and you won't be so drained. Fried lamp means a better you."**

Ray waved him off, a way of him saying 'hurry the hell up'.

Kai's features hardened at the memories. Spontaneously deciding to let Ray see on his own that he'd feel better. Some people never change.

**"I was filling out some paperwork in my room."** He pointed to the floor. **"In here, right where you're sitting."**

**"I'd decided to take a walk, get some air. While outside, _he_ found me... He raped me, chased me, tried to stab me to death, and when that didn't work, he shot me. He chased me in and up the stairs as I crawled, my spine severed. He shot me in the knee... I could hear how much he was enjoying this, how much _satisfaction_ he was getting out of it."**

Silent tears fell from Kai's face, his voice suddenly hard to use.

Ray swallowed around the lump in his throat, listening intently as he was slowly able to breathe easier, the crushing weight that had lodged itself in his chest lifting.

"Then the sick bastard took what he did and wrote about it, practically confessed on paper to everything..." He growled out, "And my daughter seems to be infatuated with it, with _him_. How lucky are we?"

There was a cracking noise, and Kai knew from experience what he'd done, the window had iced over, and soon, all in here would start to go frigid... Just like he did on that bitter October night.

In an unseen flash he found himself in front of Ray, pining him where he sat. Smoke began to rise from his body, and small pockets of flames began to pop out while his features turned hollow and he began to blister. It was as if he was being burned all over again, only he couldn't feel it.

**"She's a fool! Reading about my murder as if its some grand fuckin' fairytale! Talking about him like he's the second coming of Christ... That 'brilliant, imaginative writer' roughly kicked me in here, and set me on fire with a match _after_ he poured Rum into my open wounds! I begged him not to kill me, tearfully pleaded many times! He poured Vodka the second time; on my writhing body, all over here, and lit it ablaze with a lighter! When I 'came to' I was in the foggy, freezing, forest that's now been fenced off, my body covered disgracefully in mud where no one will find it!"**

His nonexistent eyes still held the man stiff. **"Do you think he gives a shit? He'll kill her too if she gets close, and she's a gorgeous, exotic girl, so he'll be worse."**

Ray barely flinched, barely bating an eye at all that was going on. Instead, he simply reached forward and put a hand out to calm him.

"That's enough, Kai." He spoke firmly,

"She didn't know, nobody did. It's not her fault, so stop it."

The flames and smoke smell dispersed, and the room became calmer, lighter.

* * *

**Yet again another glorious RP, and chapter title idea, from LuxahHeart. She played Ray and I played Kai in this round. Hope you guys like this! :) **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Lifting the Veil

Seeing that the lights were back on, and hearing nothing but silence, Lin made her way out of her bathroom.

"... Baba?"

The two looked to see Lin coming up to them.

"What did you find out?"

Meanwhile, Kai stayed quiet, taking a step back from her and from Ray, going off to one side.

"A lot..." Ray answered before gesturing to Kai. "Lin, this is Kai. I used to tell you about him, remember?"

She smiled at him and happily hummed, "Mhmm. I do. You and mom always said he was one of my other uncles."

She glanced at the man who seemed to remind her of Kaitus for some reason and it wasn't the name. "But why are you here? Why aren't you old? Shouldn't you have a kid too?"

Kai's right eye twitched and he looked away, his gaze going off toward the door.

"Honey... He's dead." Ray breathed out in a sigh. The last thing he needed was for Kai to get madder than he already was.

"Ohhhh." Lin looked at him in awe. The combined expressions of pride and annoyance on her father's face not far from her peripheral.

Then she folded her arms over her chest, the rare side of her mother coming through. "So _you're_ who damaged my stuff. You owe me a new book and MP3 Player, you jerk!"

"Lin!" Ray snapped quickly, "Be glad he burned that thing, I don't want you reading things like that to start with." He spat before he tossed her the MP3 player Kai had fixed.

"And you best delete it off of there as well!"

After she caught it Lin looked at the two in shock. He couldn't be serious? "Oh come on, I'm old enough." She whined, feeling small. "Why?"

"Because I said so, Lin! That's why."

The smell of sulfur and ash filled the air and after flickering like a light switch a few times, Kai vanished, locking eyes with Lin and then Ray praying it wouldn't be the last time he saw them.

"Where did he go?" Lin asked, now more than a bit freaked out.

"He left, but I can't tell if he left on his own or if there wasn't enough energy to keep him manifested." Ray answered, the rest of his energy coming back to him as if he was shocked by it.

She looked at him. "_You're_ the medium here, not me! You should know, and why can't I read the rest of that book?"

"You are a medium too, say hello to your first case... And he took a lot out of me being here, he has to feed off energy to manifest the way he has." Ray explained, running a hand down his tired face.

Lin's eyes roamed over her father, really taking him in. "Why do you look so tired, baba?"

"As for that book, Lin... It details how Kai was murdered. I'm sure Boris took some liberties but still. Going by what Kai told me, its really how he died. You upset him, that's why he did what he did. In the end I'm just glad you weren't hurt."

She dropped the player. "He-he... That boy in the book is _him_?! How?"

Remembering all she'd read thus far and researched made her want to puke. If that was all based on true events, no wonder he damaged her stuff. She was tormenting him, putting an already tortured soul through even more hell. Man, she was a shitty person.

Ray saw her face and frowned too, "It's okay, you didn't know. None of us did, we thought he just up and left without a word... He was known for that." He chuckled a little at the memories of catching him in the midst of sneaking out a time or two. "But no more, please."

"I won't."

There was a knock at the door and it opened to reveal their dorm's mail woman. She smiled and walked up to Lin, happily handing her a flyer.

Then she left, going off to the next room some steps down the hall.

Lin looked at the colorful thing and her stomach went tight, knotting and twisting in shock.

She handed it to her father, letting him have a look-see. Down the hall she heard squealing and thumps reminiscent of a small group jumping up and down in a giddy frenzy.

"He's coming to our school for a book signing this Friday, its Saturday. What do we do?"

Ray groaned, god the last time he thought about Boris' ugly face was too long. Surely the years had not been kind, he could only imagine what the old man looked like now. How was he still even alive?! He should be ancient by now, old and full of mold.

"Kai?" He called, trying to get a feel for him but the air was normal. "Kai!"

Hearing scratching and dragging along the floor, Lin looked down to see a right hand pulling along and then Kai poked his head out from beneath her bed. He went in wispy flashes to his feet, his plain of existence clearly different from theirs. But soon the Forever Seventeen entity became solid, and the lightbulb in her reading lamp loudly buzzed, lighting up brightly.

**"What?"** Kai asked dully.

"He's gonna be here, what do you want to do?" Ray asked, waving the flyer about.

Invisible hands calmly took the item out of Ray's hold and Kai glanced at it. Upon seeing the scumbag's face, he fought the strong urge to vomit blood, relive his nasty end right then and there.

He looked at the little girl, protection washing over him. **"Keep your distance, and act normal."**

He looked at Ray, his fire, that old leader's blaze igniting. **"We got a week and a day. Buy another copy and give it to him."**

His face hardened, **"Help me drag him to Hell."**

Ray nodded, that was a plan he was happy to follow. "I'll be here."

Lin looked at him and rattled off, a plan of her own coming to her. "Wait? Where are you buried? If we can get your body then that's all the proof we'll need to lock him away, right? You possess someone and tell your story. Poof, mass jail time for pedo-bear!"

Kai shot her a hard look at turned to Ray. She was pushing it. One thing at a time.

"It's not as simple as that." Ray sighed, putting a hand to his face. "You can't use superstition to win court cases, that's not how it works. They'd need evidence, hardcore evidence, and with how long it's been most if not all of the evidence on his corpse will have corroded away."

Ray shook his head some, running through some plans in his own head, though none of them were suited for his daughters ears.

"We'll figure it out, you worry about school... And Kai?" He turned his attention back to him.

**"Yeah I know. Watch myself."**

"No, stop drawing dicks on Michael's board." Ray huffed, "And quit taking so much out of me, how much do you need?!"

**"But he is one and I've watched him walk all over them for too long." **Kai smirked and pointed to the lights around the room.** "I'm not, not much anyway, you're just old."**

Kai could see the irritation simmering and it was hilarious. God he missed this.

"Yeah, he is, but you're getting the kids in trouble, namely mine and your cousin. Stop it." Ray argued, he hadn't missed this as much as he could tell Kai did. He saw that smirk and gave him one back.

"Exactly, I'm too old to be dealing with this mess!"

Kai's eyes went dull as he smiled warmly at him, his eyeballs melting away as the air became thick. He began to cough like smoke was filling the room and the cracking of an unseen fire filled his ears. He reached out for Ray in pure fright, like he knew what was going to happen next, and went away in a wisp of gusts.

"Maybe he should have taken some more." Ray shook his head after seeing him leave, running a hand through his hair he turned back to his daughter.

"If you want to go home, just say so."

Lin wiped the sweat from her brow, her face paler than normal. "I'll think about it... For now, Kaitus needs me."

She gave him a sweet smile, one that he often said reminded him of mom. "Someone's gotta be there to watch him eat. Its a rule."

Ray nodded, understanding completely.

"Howdy ho, my lovely neighbor!" Kaitus came into view, literally singing it as he stepped over the threshold. Susumu trudging not too far behind him and looking mortified. How was he a Hiwatari again?

Kaitus spotted Ray and instantly went cold and nervous. "Oh sweet Jelly Belly Babies, you're here?!"

Ray swiveled round to look at him, giving the clearly nervous boy a small nod and a 'hello' type of smile while shifting his gaze to Susumu.

"I need to speak with you." He directed at the elder.

The older Hiwatari nodded, the feeling of devastation and utter despair retsunamiing over him.

"Sure. Down the hall."

Susumu eyed the two teens sternly. "And keep this door open. Not cracked, not ajar, _open_. Am I clear? And if I come back and you two are anything but apart..."

He pointed to Lin. "You're grounded." He pointed to Kaitus. "And you've got _him_ to answer to, and then me... Behave."

He then went out, hearing Ray get up to follow him.

* * *

**This was so much fun to do. Thank you LuxahHeart for the awesome RP! She was Ray and I was Kaitus, Kai, Lin, and Susumu. Next chapter will come out soon. ^^ **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Reunion

"First off, care to tell me why you deem it fit to ground my daughter while I'm sitting right there?" Ray questioned as they walked.

The older man shrugged nonchalantly. "She's in my care... So what did you want to talk about?" Susumu asked as they walked side by side.

"And yet she's _my daughter_, what exactly are you supposedly going to ground her for anyways?" Ray continued, he'd get to the better part once they were further down the hall and away from the kids.

"They're teenagers living in a dormitory. Premarital sex." He told him matter-of-factly.

Ray stopped, blocking his path before he took his hand and smacked him hard across the face.

"First off, my child has not done such a thing. Secondly, how dare you assume so! And once more, it is not for you to punish her for something we've all done before. That still lies with her mother and I, not you. We set it up where you come to us, we either agree or don't agree on how things should be handled and since this is a made up scenario you _will_ revoke that grounding threat and apologize to Lin." He yelled, his pupils slitting.

"Back to why I wanted to talk to you." Ray started more calmly, not letting Susumu get a word in yet. No wonder Kai hated his father, he was a dick too, even years later.

Pulling his arms over his chest, his back going stiff, he held Susumu's eyes with his. "Kai is dead, he's trapped here."

Susumu went numb, his heart ripping itself in two completely. This had to be a lie. It couldn't be true. He could feel his mind turning to mush.

"My baby. Our baby boy is, he's _dead_?" The elderly man fell to his knees and wept, his face hidden in his hands.

Susumu rose to his feet, trying to control his sobs. "How do you know? How-how did he die?" It was so hard to talk but he had to keep pushing forward. Maybe knowing would start the healing?

This was going to hurt, in more ways than one. He may not like him overall but as a parent Ray could put himself in his shoes, and deep down he prayed that he'd never be on the other end of the noose. No parent should ever have to burry their child, let alone some that's have been through what they have. A missing person's case gone bad, truly awful.

"Kai..." Ray called for him, waiting for a few minutes before the air grow thicker. He grabbed at the wall to steady himself, feeling his energy leaving him again.

Slowly, soft and distant steps from far below became louder and firm as the entity made its way steadily up the long set of steps, gradually going from a winding spectral mist to a solid young man that looked like the model he once was.

"**... Yes?" **

Ray motioned between father and son, pressing his whole body against the wall. "Someone to see you."

"Hey, son." While he was torn on whether he'd ever say that again, he never thought it'd be like this.

Kai's eyes went wide. Was this real? "**Dad?"**

One part of him wanted to yell and runaway, the other wanted to stay put and learn why he was even here.

Susumu went forward, and out of the corner of his eye Kai saw Ray was about buckle. Before he could say anything arms went tightly around him and he hugged him back, unable to stop the tears. His hug for some reason, felt like home.

Kai let go and then stood tall, two heads taller than his father, and only a head taller than Ray.

"**Why are you here?"** Kai hushed out, the whisper echoing as he went from solid to transparent.

"You okay?" Susumu asked, briefly turning to Ray in a panic.

"I'm old." Ray answered with a roll of his eyes.

Susumu frowned slightly, _he_ was the old one!

"What happened to you, son?" Susumu went back to Kai, trying to take everything in before he disappeared.

"**Boris." **

A long, severed finger pointed eerily to the other end of the hall. The sound of close range gunshots followed by invisible footsteps pounding up the stairs in pursuit of something was heard. A cold draft then blew by but there was nothing near them strong enough to cause the kind of movement it did. It was like they were outside in the late night air.

"**He, hurt me." **

Susumu swallowed the lump that caught in his throat, quickly turning to Ray. Clearly he had something that not many other people possessed. He didn't want to be that person but he needed him in a way he hadn't needed someone in a long time.

"Are you going to help him? Get it to where he can rest in peace?!" His voice strained.

Ray nodded best he could, sliding down the wall to the floor. This was awful in every way imaginable, not many took as much energy as Kai had and he wasn't even sure why. It could have been the loop he seemed to be stuck in, it could also be the sheer fact that it had been a good year or more since he had even come in contact with someone on the other side. And he couldn't say he missed it.

"I'm going to kill him." Ray stated plainly, "And then we'll find Kai's body and remove it from the grounds so he can be properly buried and go."

"How are you gonna do that?" Susumu asked, still baffled by all going on.

The sound of a sandbag slamming to the floor boomed and echoed. There was no mistake, that was the sound of a body. What were they about to witness?

The hallway became narrower and somehow looked longer as the lights went out.

Susumu felt a soft yet firm, rather familiar, tap on his left shoulder. He saw the translucent, curled up hand vanish off to one side, then he caught sight of something awful.

Kai became corpse-like, standing limply. Donning blood, burns, and all just like before, though this time he seemed more pleading for help than anything else.

Kai took a hard, sliding step forward and limped to them, his wounded leg dragging behind him, useless. One arm, his left one, swung freely as if it had been dislocated or broken at some point. Fresh blood spurted and pooled out of pulsating wounds as he made his way. He fell to the floor like a rock, the same sandbag sound from the before, unable to use his legs anymore. Lanky hands reached out, inching their way while digging into the aged wood, a gritty crimson, watery trail dragging behind him from beneath.

A shaky, icy hand reached out to Ray, eyes begging, but for what he wasn't sure. The moment their fingertips touched, Kai sunk into the floor as if it were a swampy marsh, drowning in his own repetitive misery.

What the hell was that?! Was he reliving his death and showing his dad the outcome, asking for it to stop while he had the strength to?

"Bullet between the eyes." Ray said simply once the lights came back, along with his energy, "What you just saw was what Kai has been living through the past several years. Because his death was so horrid, his soul can't rest. When we find and remove his body from the grounds, he'll finally be able to."

"I think, I think he was trying to help you up. Even in death my son tries to protect you all. It's admirable." Susumu said, trying to keep himself together. He could freak and cry his heart out later.

He watched as Ray rose up, still inhaling heavily. "You gonna be alright? Need a shoulder?"

Ray smiled, though it was weak just like the rest of him. "I'm fine, don't worry it'll pass and I'll be alright. Just takes a lot, specially since this is the... Third time I've called him?"

"Where is, his body?" Susumu asked after a bit, his mind swimming in all directions, unsure of what to fully focus on.

He chuckled some before shaking his head at him. "I don't know where it's at, I don't even know if he knows. But, given the way his murder keeps playing out, it's here somewhere."

Susumu put a hand to his chin, thinking back to the horrors no parent should have to see. "There was mud on his clothes. Let's ask the grounds keeper to open the fence and let us into the forest, search the marshy area."

"We kill Boris first, then we find him." Ray stated, "He wants to be here when that happens. I'm not taking that away from him."

Susumu nodded, understanding. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Do you have a place to stay? You're welcome at my place, just be careful of Misaki, she's not herself anymore. And don't mention anything until we have the body. I don't need her breaking just yet."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Ray smiled a little again, this one an actual smile compared to the last, rather strained one. "First, you owe my daughter an apology."

"Of course, I'll get it to her."

He walked on down the hall and while approaching the door he said lowly, a glare going in Ray's direction but not at him, "Let's not forget Mr. Summers, gotta clean his clock... Asshole. Who the fuck says something like that to kids?"

Ray's frame stiffened as he tightly folded his arms over his chest, biting his tongue so as to not hit him once more. "Yeah." Then he smirked briefly before going serious again. "But first, you."

Susumu rolled his eyes. "I can see why you were the _mom_ of that little group. You nag."

"And you annoy." He shooed the man inside. "_Go_."

Susumu snorted, he knew that, and obediently obliged.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: The Room

Misaki Hiwatari glared icily at her husband standing sheepishly in the doorway while Ray waved an apologetic hello next to him.

"You've got to be kidding me? We have no more room."

"Darling, please. He has nowhere else to stay, its only until winter break." Susumu begged. He'd get on his knees if he had to.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to intrude. Please understand he meant well." Ray said with a polite bow.

Misaki turned to him and smiled sweetly, "Oh honey stop, it's not your fault. My husband clearly doesn't think things through."

Susumu gulped, yup, he was definitely on the couch tonight. "Sweetie?"

Misaki gave him a stern look. "Don't 'sweetie' me, you know to call before offering up space we don't really have to spare."

She turned to Ray and said happily, "it's not a problem, Ray, you'll just have to stay in Kai's room. I'm sure he won't mind, and when he gets back from studying abroad you can explain things. Just don't make a mess of his room, okay? He worked hard on it."

As Susumu shrank underneath her final glare, she stepped aside and urged the two in with her hands. She smiled again at Ray and said, "Please, go ahead in."

Ray nodded and went in, shoving his strong emotions down as the flowing warmth of the space heater surrounded him, engulfing him like Kai's presence did.

Susumu stepped into the kitchen as Ray made himself comfortable. He found his wife of twenty-seven years nursing a pot of slow cooking beef stew.

"Smells good." He said as he sat at the table, the frayed navy blue blanket of the Kotatsu covering the lower half of his body.

"Of course, its Kai's favorite. I gotta keep fresh with this recipe." After stirring the pot, she added a dash of salt and other spices, shaking them in one by one. "I'll call him later and leave him another message. I'm gonna give him an earful when he gets home, how dare he not pick up his phone. He knows better... We've told him to call here from time to time." She stirred it a few times more and then put the lid on the cooker. She smiled slightly into the steaming glass top while her eyes flickered.

She said softly, "Just let me know you're alive."

Susumu got up and wrapped his strong arms around her tiny, trembling frame. He pulled her into him and said, her Chanel scent encompassing him, "Hey now, there there, my sweet компаньон (companion)... That's part of what makes our Kai so wonderful, isn't it? He's always there, just waiting in the wings. Watch, he'll come to us when we need him the most."

He kissed the top of her head, letting his tears falling silently as he held her tighter.

Ray walked up to the room he knew to be Kai's. It was the only one closed, and like most teens of their time, Kai had a metal, red-lettered Keep Out sign hanging by a short nail on his door.

The older man chuckled to himself, this was priceless. Who would've thought it, but at the same time, it was him. So who else but Kai, really?

Upon opening the door Ray's sensitive nose was met with a slew of old, yet comforting smells. The room was musty, because it hadn't been aired out in quite a while, but it also felt freshly lived in. Like he was here with him again, like he'd look around the corner and see him standing there wondering what he was doing here to begin with. It was sad and yet amusing at the same time. He wanted it to be real, it was all playing out so clearly like a film in his head. Something like that would never be, because the Devil had struck years ago.

Closing the door softly, and allowing his hand to rest on the icy metal knob, Ray took in his eerie surroundings. The room felt empty and yet somehow completely full, energetic but flat, cold and yet warm. It was clear residual energy from its last owner still remained, and with no one setting foot in here for coming up decades, Ray was certain who it belonged to. It was almost like the room itself was waiting for him to come back and use it again.

Posters of his favorite bands and celebrities lined the walls, practically framing his perfectly made bed which sat shoved to the wall furthest from the dual-lockable door. Familiar trophies and metals lined across, and hung from, the tops of two tall bookshelves teetering with aged documents and literature.

Ever-yellowing photographs sat in the center of the oddly organized, somewhat pretentious looking, mass. Ray smiled at the three, dust coated pictures, remembering his own polished set sat out at home. Rolled up newspapers lay neatly tucked behind the standalone frames. Ray snorted, he knew that bastard cared for them, even at the beginning. Even if he couldn't 'stand them' this was proof, proof that Kai was an even better man than he thought and he saw through all his 'soldier-faced' bullshit. Kai truly was one of a kind, and he loved that about him.

Sliding off of and away from the now clammy knob, Ray made his way over to Kai's bed, the thick curtain covered window giving him an odd sense of security. Its like he was telling him he was safe here, that it was okay to relax.

"Must be the energy... How ironic. Even when you're not here, you are." Ray muttered, his eyes roaming over the black and white bedding.

In the spacious quite Ray let himself drift away, heading back down an old pathway.

* * *

It was a warm sunny day, and sweat coated them all while they huffed and tried to regain their breaths in the sticky heat.

Kai went back inside the dojo, their trip from New York some days old now. The day's training was done and the typical whining and groaning was currently eating at his ears as he munched on an apple, a cup of Ray's special cold brew tea in the thermos clipped onto the brown belt encircling his girlish hips.

It wasn't long before the back door to the kitchen opened, and Ray stepped in covered in sweat and splotch with dirt, his clothes stained with grass too. A cross look on his face.

"Haven't changed much, have you?" He quipped in a less than friendly tone as he made his way to the sink and the cupboard that held the cups.

Kai shot him a side-eyed glance, removing the yellow fruit from his mouth, which momentarily made him resemble an angsty horse.

"No, what else did you expect? This isn't beginner's ballet."

Ray shrugged his shoulders as he filled up his glass under the faucet, his back facing Kai where he was unable to see the mocking face Ray was making as Kai talked.

"Think I'd rather learn how to pirouette than go through that hell again." He muttered under his breath, turning back and pressing his back to the edge of the counter.

"We only just got back, you could have gone a bit easier on us since it's been a while."

Kai rolled his eyes, and here he thought he'd escaped their mother hen's wrath? Seemed he was wrong.

"It wouldn't be hard if you all didn't take days off. I understand one, two if you're ill, but nearly a week? Not in my camp fucker."

"Kai, you won't be my main man anymore if you keep up that thug mouth! Zip it, quit trippin' dawg!" Grandpa Granger shouted from down the hall. Said man felt his still tacky face heat up, not again.

Ray bit his lip to stop the laugh from escaping, though he was unable to stop the quiet chuckle as he ducked his head and sipped at his water.

"Might wanna watch that mouth of yours."

Kai groaned in embarrassed irritation and went to walk off, tossing his unfinished apple in the disposal. In the small circle of silence, Kai took Ray in. Upon doing so he saw that his fringe was moving. It was as if someone was blowing on it or playing with his hair from behind him. The hell was going on, again with the oddness? This morning he was talking to himself in a hushed tone over breakfast. Thankfully everyone else was still sleeping. Then there was drills, Ray seemed distracted there too, but why? What, or who, was on his mind this time?

"Ray..." He finally said, his breath caught in his throat.

Ray's eyes snapped from the girl standing just to the side of him to Kai near the doorway. His stomach dropped and flipped, his face paling slightly.

"Yeah?" He asked in a more timid voice than he normally produced.

"You look dreadful, go wash up. Take a catnap." With that Kai turned on his heels and left. He felt unfamiliar eyes at his back while he made his way to where Gramps was. Might as well get the hours-long lecture over with. If not, the patriarchal Granger would just stew in it, and that would be bad.

"Okay..." Ray said to his retreating back.

A nap sounded great anyway. Aside from the training from hell and already being worn out, the longer this girl stayed around him he felt what little energy he had zapping out of him.

"Look, I can't help you." He whispered to the misty face of the young woman as he turned back to take her in, she hovering closer to him.

"I wish I could, but I can't."

"But my sweet Henry, I need to find him. I have to make sure he is well. Where is he? Are you sure you have not seen him?" The British brunette asked, tearing up again. How long had it been? It felt too long. Last she knew, it was May 1540 and she was walking one of the blossoming gardens of his castle's many courtyards calling out to him. Then an arm went around her neck.

With a morose sigh, she vanished, going away with the humid breeze.

Kai leaned against the wall, listening in. Help? And it sounded like a woman was talking to him, but no one was there. Knowing Ray, he knew where to go if he wandered off after hours, he just had to keep track of him.

The moment she vanished, the energy he had been slowly losing came back like a hard punch to the gut, winding him more where he dropped the glass from his hold. The pieces, and what was left inside of it, spilling and shattering out across the hardwood floor in all directions.

This wasn't getting any better, it wasn't getting any easier. They kept coming, for near a year now, and each time he didn't know what they wanted from him exactly, but he wasn't able to control them or what they did to him when they came and went.

While Ray left, looking green, Kai went in behind him and cleaned up the accidental mess. This was worse than he thought. For Ray to leave a mess for someone else, the situation was excruciating for him.

Ray lay awake amongst the others soft snoring and quiet mumblings, the occasional shifting of the sheets as Max tried to kick at something in his dream while he himself laid as stiff as a board with his eyes trained upwards at the ceiling above him.

It was peaceful, calming even, yet his eyelids refused to close on him, despite feeling wiped out. His earlier catnap, that he took outside in the garden under the blazing sun, seemed to have given him this hidden ability to stay awake even after it already was well past midnight.

With an irritated sigh he rolled over on his side where he should have been facing the dojo's doors, instead he came to face with the dark haired woman from earlier as she was knelt down in front of him. Her hands were laced together on her dainty lap, she sitting on her knees.

Biting his tongue to stifle the yelp that was fixing to work itself out of him he shuffled backward, sitting himself up and narrowed his eyes at the misty figure.

"What do you want?!" He asked in a hushed, angry whisper.

The woman smiled, at least he was sure she smiled, and gestured for him to follow as her transparent body floated up from the ground and simply slipped through the closed doors of the dojo. With a quick look over his shoulders, making sure the others were still sound asleep, he made his way out from under his sheets and pulled his shoes on before carefully stepping outside.

"Where are we going?" He questioned, though he continued to follow the woman as she floated over the deck towards the gates to the edge of the Granger's property.

Kai gave it a bit before he slid out after him, his eyes blinking completely open as he the sliding of the main gate hit his ears.

He walked along the path to where they all seemed to gather when the world's weights rested heavily on their shoulders... The bridge looming over the canal.

"Is this where you're meeting her?" He asked as he approached him, Ray's face telling him he'd heard him coming, just like before with Salima.

"K-Kai..." Ray said in shock. Why was he out here?!

"Her? Her who?" Ray played it off, trying to make himself look casual as he failed at putting his elbow on the top of the bridge's railing beside him.

"Is that him, is that my sweet Henry?" The woman asked as she peered over Ray's shoulder, hovering just behind his back.

"No." Ray hissed out in a fiery whisper. This was the last thing he wanted.

Kai stood stiff and folded his arms over his chest. "Don't play dumb, I heard you talking to someone, a woman, throughout the day... What's up?"

"Nothing." Ray dismissed defensively, "You must be hearing things." He chuckled nervously. "You should probably head back, I'll be home in a little bit."

"That is him, that's my sweet Henry! You brought him here for me!" The woman sang out as if she had tears coming out of her eyes, stepping right through Ray's body in sheer excitement.

At that moment his breath got sucked out of him, his skin pricked with goosebumps, and his head felt light as if it was about to drop either forward or backwards any second.

The woman, taking what she did from him as she passed through him, stood in front of Kai as a full woman who looked just as she had when she were alive.

"Henry, there you are!" She bubbly bellowed.

Kai went cold and wide eyed. He took in what appeared to be a solid woman wearing a gorgeous early 16th century ballgown only worn by higher ups or members of the aristocracy at the time. The mauve and white lace linen seemed to mold onto, and fold over, her thin frame like a glove. The average looking, bun bearing brunette with dark eyes seemed to think he was someone else. Who the hell is Henry?!

Did she mean King Henry the VIII (8th)? If so, was she one of his many mistresses? Mentally listing off how all his wives died, that plainly visible dark pinkish ring rounding her supple neck said she wasn't one of them. But a forgotten mistress was a possibility at least. What else could it be?

"My name is Kai, ma'am. I'm not who you're looking for. Now what do you want with Ray?"

Kai walked around and hoisted Ray onto his shoulders, keeping him steady. The poor guy looked ready to hurl.

The woman's face fell as she spun around to watch Kai pick the boy she had become attached to onto his feet. Her face contorting into something between angry and hurt.

"You _are_ my Henry! How dare you lie, use the Devil's tongue?! Months away and this is what I come back to... You trade me in for a harlot?!" She shrieked out.

Ray could hardly keep his head steady on his shoulders, his ears ringing with the screaming.

"He's really not Henry, you brought me out here! I told you, I can't help you! Just leave me alone!"

Kai blinked and went limp. Again with that word... Help. Taking the scene in again, he saw her head jerk to one side as if being pulled while her features morphed into something sinister.

Kai felt a burning sensation on his chest, fighting the urge to grip it as she pointed at him menacingly. Was she cursing him? Was he wounded?

Before either could ask she wisped away, the still world filling with the subtle sounds of distant crickets soon after.

"The hell was that?!" Kai asked, he'd look at his chest later.

Ray sucked in air the moment she was gone, the swaying of his head getting worse before his stomach twisted into terrible knots. Prying himself from Kai's side, he rushed to the side of the bridge, no longer able to hold back the bile pushing upward. It fell out, splattering into the river beneath in disgusting chunks.

Kai fought the urge to puke along with him, his throbbing and searing skin at the forefront of his nervous system.

"You see spirits? The dead? Like the boy in the movie The Sixth Sense. They talk with you, to you? How long has this been going?" Kai rattled off, his brain wired with worry and while his body wracked with pain.

With a few more drive heaves, his stomach now empty of anything and everything he ate the past few hours, all Ray could do was nod his head while trying to catch his breath again.

"'B-bout a year now..." He choked, the overly acidic aftertaste tainting his taste-buds and making it worse.

Kai nodded, much calmer than before, at least that was the mask he chose to sport. "You're a medium?"

He put him over his shoulder again, this time not letting go. He urged him over to a nearby bench, sitting down with him.

"Is that lady why you've been so 'out of it' all day?"

Ray nodded, wiping the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand. "She's been around since before we left for New York, I was hoping she'd have gone once we got back... Nope."

"I see. That sucks. Maybe she won't bother you anymore though. I certainly pissed her off."

He watched as Ray rose a knowing and disapproving brow at him.

"What? I can't be proud of chasing off an annoying specter?"

"No, because she probably hurt you." Ray said, shaking his head some. "Don't... Don't tell the others, I don't even know what's really going on yet myself."

"'Course I won't."

Kai removed his shirt and looked himself over. Four scratches and a poke hole the size of her long nails painted plain marks along his chest and upper abdomen. They appeared to have bled a bit but had since stopped.

"Oh joy." Kai sarcastically said as he put his top back on.

"I'm sorry." Ray said as he had taken a quick glance at the marks too.

"I'll be fine. Had worse, just jarring is all."

Kai moved to stand in front of him and extended his hand. Normally this was reserved for females because chivalry and such but Ray needed him and he wasn't about to abandon him.

With a heavy breath, Ray slapped his hand into Kai's, letting the older boy pull him up to his feet and get a feel for his own weight before he let him go.

"I just want it to stop, I didn't ask for this. Why me?" Ray looked to his friend for the help he so desperately wanted, needed.

Fighting the urge to be blunt, Kai walked slowly with him, letting him take his time.

"In my opinion you can look at this one of two ways... Be angry at the hand you were given, or see it as a way to help others." Kai gave him a genuine smile, doing his best to hide his teeth.

"Can't I just be normal?" Ray whined as his tired feet dragged him along the path to the dojo. "I can't help them, I don't know how to help them."

"It's like Beyblading, you learn as you go. Every life you encounter is a new match, listen and learn. If any more are like that lady, find out ways to keep them at bay. Circle of salt supposedly keeps witches away, just to name one." He put a finger to his chin, thinking where he might've picked that up. "Think I've seen Hocus Pocus one too many times, haha." His humor was dry but it always seemed to affect Ray a time or two.

"And what about you says normal? Hello, look in the mirror lately, CatMan?" It was just a joke, and hopefully Ray saw it as such.

"You're thinking of demons, a line of salt keeps demons away not witches." Ray shook his head, trying not to laugh as he lifted his weak arm and tried to shove Kai off his feet, though it was barely enough force to make him wobble.

"You're an ass, as if I needed something else to make me weirder." He sighed again, rubbing at the side of his head.

"I guess you're right though. There's nothing I can really do but accept this, even if it is shitty. It takes so much out of me, and when she walked through me like that... Talk about being violated." He laughed.

Kai snorted, a tinge of guilt hitting him. "You mean like how Tyson violates food, or how Hilary's screeching violates our ears?"

He paused, "And I'm sorry, didn't mean to push a button. You're fine."

A blush tinted his cheeks and the bridge of his nose as they went under a street lamp and then another one. How would he interpret this? "... I like you just the way you are, this new news included."

"You only like me because you have a weird thing for cats." Ray continued to laugh, it actually feeling good to goof around after the terrible events that had transpired earlier. As much as he didn't want the others to know about what he could do, he was happy, relieved even that Kai had come after him. He needed the helping hand and shoulder to lean on.

"Maybe, when I get a better handle on this thing, I can have my own TV show." He joked.

Kai laughed at that, the cat jab included. "You'd be the first."

He saw the confused look Ray gave him and elaborated. "The first legit one, besides The Dead Files lady. I'd watch it. Call it, Ghosts with CatMan!"

Ray slapped Kai on the arm again, this time with enough strength it left both his hand and Kai's arm stinging.

"Quit being such a jerk!"

Kai rubbed his arm, big ouch, but totally worth it. "And he's back ladies and gentlemen. Our feisty feline has recovered his artillery."

A calm breeze rustled their clothing and hair as their eyes locked.

"I'm serious... You'll be fine..." Kai paused, "Who knows, may help one of us one day."

Ray's smile fell quickly, his eyes going wide as he stared at him in disbelief. "Why would you say something like that?!"

"No real reason, just came out awkward." Deep down he wondered if she had done something to him. He wasn't one for being naive but he did believe in the supernatural and all they could do to the living. He was scared but wouldn't admit it. Only time would truly tell if this was just her being angry or something more. He doubted the latter but the former kept seeming more illogical the more he thought about it.

They soon arrived at the gate and Kai followed Ray inside, watching him slide into bed before rushing off to the bathroom to wash his wound. This was unreal.

At the adrift knocks on the door Kai jumped out of his skin. Yeah, there'd be zero sleeping for him tonight.

"What?' He squeaked out.

"You okay?" Ray uneasily called from the other side.

Kai opened the door and met worried eyes. "I'm alright." He said, his racing heart relaxing at the sight of the boy. Thank goodness it wasn't that lady.

"Are you?"

Ray nodded a few times before he shook his head quickly. "Yes and no... I can't sleep, it gets worse when I do... I dream, they whisper things in my ears, and I can't block any of it out." He explained as he looked back up at Kai.

"How's your chest?" He asked.

"We'll look into this more, see what we can do to make this easier for ya, and my chest burns but nothing else to report."

Kai led them into the kitchen for a drink. Since they couldn't sleep something to calm their nerves might work. Anything was better than sitting in silence.

"Can we skip training for tomorrow? Just for a day?" Ray apprehensively asked as he slipped into a chair at the table.

Looking at the calendar and counting the days, Kai turned to him and held up two fingers. "Let's shoot for two, take all the time you need."

Ray gave him an appreciative smile back, "Thanks."

Kai sat their cups down after a bit and sat across from him. "Anytime."

The night air was thinner, and Ray didn't seem so tense, uneven. With a subtle lean forward Kai said, "Its alright. You're secret's safe with me."

Ray's smile stayed on his face as he mirrored Kai's movement, leaning close to him as well.

"And your secret is safe with me."

Kai felt his face heat up, the steam coming out of his ears like the steam vent on an older train. "Please say you mean the cats?"

Ray's fang poked out from under his upper lip as it stretched out further into a smirk, "Bingo."

"For fuck's sake, man." Kai laughed at that, both relieved and happy to have all of his friend back.

Ray chuckled as he sat back, running a finger along the rim of his glass as he propped the side of his head in his other hand. "Unless you have a different secret you could tell me."

Kai's defenses rose. "I don't, now drink your tea." As perceptive as he was, he figured Ray could see right through it but at the same time Kai prayed he couldn't. This was going to be a long forty-eight hours.

Ray took a sip and sat his cup back down, "My first ghost appeared a week after I got back home last year, he was an older man who had been murdered by a hunter. I didn't know what to do for him so I talked to Lee's grandfather about it and what I could do, though he wasn't much help. He just gave me some herbs to try and see if it would block the old man out. It worked for a month, he came back. He showed me where his body was left, so I moved it back to our village and buried him there and since then I haven't seen him." Ray explained, his finger running around the rim of his glass again as his eyes flicked up from what he was doing to Kai again.

"Okay, your turn to tell me your other secret."

Kai smiled slightly, his bashful gaze falling to the coffee mug in his hands. "I'll tell you in due time." He looked at him. "Will you wait 'til I'm ready?"

Ray cocked a brow as his head tilted a little, "As long as you make it worth it."

Kai smirked, "Don't I always?"

Ray shrugged his shoulders, "Sometimes, not all your surprises are worthwhile."

He joked, laying his arms on the table and putting his chin down in the folds they created as he looked across the table at him.

"Tell me something else then, we have all night."

Shoving down his pulsating heart, Kai said, "I think she cursed me. But we'll see." It was a hasty one and something he didn't want out but he couldn't think of anything else to say. Ray was right, they had all night, all could come slowly.

"I don't think so, was just upset. She's been watching us since we got back... Over there." Ray nodded his head towards the fridge. "She doesn't like me sitting with you."

Kai went whiter, a hot sweat washing over him as his stomach dropped like a rock, and it wasn't from the heat. "That's creepy..."

"You think?" Ray chuckled, "She won't hurt you again, I told her to stay away from you when you went to the bathroom... She says she's sorry, that she didn't mean to hurt you like that. But she still doesn't believe that you're not Henry."

"King Henry died long ago and I'm what the locals here call a Hafu... I'm half Japanese and half Russian. I'm not English, by any means, and I forgive her. I was rude and I'm very sorry for that."

"My question is how she got here in Japan." Ray sighed, hiding his face in the folds of his arms. "Doesn't make much sense on why she'd end up here, unless she was killed here." He looked back up to where she was, frowning slightly.

He looked at Kai. "She's gone..."

"Must've gone home... And its not easy but ghosts can form attachments, leave their 'grounds' as it were. Leech onto whomever they please. Maybe she did during our short layover in London and didn't make herself known until recently because you weren't strong enough."

Ray opened his mouth to argue back before he closed it, that seemed plausible. "Hm... Maybe."

* * *

Ray let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. It had been a long time since he'd visited that area of his brain. The aftermath of reliving that night left him feeling a mix of happy and sad, and a long-forgotten question tugged on his tongue. What was it Kai had wanted him to wait to hear, be patient for?

Ray got up and, trying to avoid a pair of fuzzy black house shoes, stepped off to his right. He twisted his ankle and instinctively shifted all of his weight onto the other one, fumbling over the leg of the nearby nightstand in the process. The rattle that resulted from his clumsiness caused the top drawer to shake open. It was only by an inch or two, but it was still enough for him to see something bulging out. Was that a promotional poster from one of their travels?

Ray rose to his feet in confusion. They all had some kind of memorabilia from their travels. They were allowed to take things from the BBA's stock room when their sports careers had ended... But Kai was 'missing' at the time, had been for about a year and a half. So why did he have something like this?

Ray laughed slightly and shook his head at the reason the logical side of his brain came up with, Kai had stolen this poster from somewhere. Ray rolled his eyes at him, picturing him in the act. He must've thought he was so funny.

While pondering over whether or not he should just close the drawer and leave the room, Ray saw the corner of something poking out underneath the poster. Wait, no way, was that his old set of stationary?

Ray opened the drawer wider and took it out. Lo-and-behold, it was his. Pale green pages with white tiger lily flowers strewn along, elegantly bordering it.

Immediately, Ray noticed the pages had been written on in various colors of ink and gel pens. That's right, at one time Kai had asked to borrow it. He said he had to write some important stuff down. Guess he'd forgotten to give it back, and Ray himself had forgotten to ask for it. In the end it didn't matter, it was just nice to see he'd used it. Ray sat back down on the edge of the bed, scanning the neatly written words.

* * *

**This whole thing was so much fun to do, from the setup to the rockin' RP with LuxahHeart. She was Ray and I was Kai, and we both took turns being the ghost lady. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. We will try to update soon. :) **

** Thank you Luxah, for being so awesome, and doing this with me! ^^ **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Meeting

The two teenagers sat across from each other on Lin's bed, an old Ouija board between them.

"Where did you get this?" Kaitus couldn't help but ask it, knowing how her family felt about such things, he feared for her.

"It doesn't matter where I got it, now hush... Were you killed in this room? Is that why you're here, walk the halls? Scare pretty girls?" Lin asked, letting the energy of the room pull on the plastic, heart shaped planchette. Their fingers were carefully stationed on either side of the hole with a rounded chunk of magnifying glass in it.

Kaitus watched it go around the plywood board, his mind connecting one letter after another to the one before, making words.

"'Y-E-S, Y-E-S, Y-E-S... P-I-S-S O-F-F.'" Kaitus laughed at the end of reading all that aloud. This guy had a great sense of humor when he wasn't taunting him.

"What? You don't think she's pretty? I do." He dotingly joked, earning him a light slap to the arm and a blush. "What, I mean it, I think you are."

"You better, bone boy." She said with a smirk.

Kaitus pouted like a child, knowing it'd make her laugh. "I like Big K better."

"Of course you do." Lin said, and like her friend predicted, she laughed. Her song, making his heart swell with warmth.

His face turned serious, getting back to the matter at hand. "I'm serious though, put this thing away, burn it, something. You know how your parents feel about this. You told me your dad had strange stuff happen at home all the time and had warned you not to go knocking on their doors like this should strange things ever happen to you too. They taught you to respect them."

Lin scowled, her eyes on the verge of slitting. "I do! And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do. Baba said this is my first case, and I'll handle it how I see fit. I'm the medium, deal with it."

She folded her arms over her chest defiantly. "Besides, he'd just zap me dry like he did my dad, and I'm not letting him do that to me."

"Just, let this person-"

"Talk about being disrespectful... Kai! He has a name, use it." Lin quipped, her tongue sharp like her mother's.

Kaitus scowled, a fire in his eyes. "Fine, Kai! Let him come to you first. Then when you get stronger, call on him. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I won't, if you let me do my job."

Kaitus groaned in defeat. "This isn't a job. You just started."

"Then let me learn, Mr. Expert."

"What?" He gave her a confused look. He then raised his hands in defeat, slapping them on his thighs. "I'm not an expert but I do know when my gut says to stop something, and this is one of those times. For the last time put it away, I don't like this. You don't know who you're talking to, not really."

"And I suppose letting this ghost guy Kai drain me dry is going to help me solve this case?"

"Yes. You'll build up a endurance, be able to talk with him more, longer even."

"Yeah, no, I'll solve this the easy way."

"Why are you being such a princess all the sudden? You do this with your schooling too, always the easy way. Forget work ethic, oh no, you're too good for it."

"In case you haven't noticed, I am one. My parents are the leaders of our tribe."

"All the more reason. You should do this the long way, the right way. Do it slowly, correct the first time, and you won't have to do it again. He won't suffer any longer."

"I don't have time to do it that way, school's going on."

"Don't give me that, you half-ass it too. You're just being lazy. Want it handed to you without having to lift a finger because that's what you're used to. What's the matter, might break a claw?"

Lin picked up the pad of paper and pen and went back to writing, ignoring him. He didn't get it at all so what was the point in talking anymore.

Kaitus got up and left the room in a huff, letting the door slam shut. He needed some air, fresh air.

Kaitus started down the track, his heavy feet pounding on the aging, pavement pathway that stretched the entirety of the institution's grounds. One end headed out into the student parking lot, the other toward the basketball court that led up to the back entrance of the gym. It was the length of a football field some have said, but it always seemed longer than that to him, and right now he was thankful because he needed the release.

Blaring Staind's song Please through the headphones of his black MP3 player, Kaitus let his body move on its own. Its all it was good for at this point.

Kaitus couldn't help but think of his mom as the song went on, and then all-too-quickly ended, all the emotions he felt came out of him in a hot mess. Stopping, not even near halfway done, he took his earbuds out and let the silence be his shoulder. He heard footsteps approaching him in a run but he ignored them.

**"You okay?"** Came a deep voice, it sounded male, and was right next to him. He could feel the hot breath of his unwanted company on his exposed skin.

Kaitus slowly lifted his head to see a young man around his age and height. Sniffling, he cleaned himself up as best he could. After, he really looked at him, taking him in. The guy wore a blue sweater over a black tracksuit and dark gray running shoes.

"I'm alright." His voice was hoarse, strained, and his throat hurt like it had a sharp, heavy rock in it.

The man, with his hands stuffed into his roomy shirt pocket, gave him a hard look. **"Sure you are, that's why you're out here in the cold in the middle of the track bawling like you just got dumped."**

Kaitus scowled and spat, "You don't know shit, leave me alone, Kai." With that said, he ran off, now having another reason to run himself into a ragged stupor.

Kai watched him go, then at the speed of light, blocked the other man, now standing limp in his school uniform.

Kaitus sent him a stern look and moved to step by him, time slowing down... An outstretched arm stopped him, just shy of touching his collarbone, both stood opposite shoulder to shoulder.

"Listen, I want nothing to do with you, or your spiritual qualms, whoever you have them with."

Kaitus watched as the solid, alive looking, ghost reached into his pocket and pulled out a cereal bar.

Holding it out to him, he said, **"Here... Take it."**

The track star looked at the strawberry flavored item and then his blockade.

"Thank you." He said as he took it.

Kaitus scoffed as the other watched him eat, not him too, guess he'd heard from somewhere.

"Why does everything you do have to irritate me?" Kaitus said as he chewed, fighting the urge to puke again. Would this ever go away, most likely... Not.

Kai wasn't fazed, lowering his arm, he retorted, **"Why does your face irritate me?"**

Kaitus snorted, good one, but he wouldn't tell him that. "Oh, how clever? Your grandma come with that one, or you pick it up from some shit show?"

**"Funny, where'd you learn to banter like this; clown college, preschool?"**

Kaitus smirked, spotting an opening. "Your aunt, is that where you got your looks from?"

**"I could say the same thing about you. Oh wait its worse, you came from a pig pen."**

Done with the back and forth both rolled their eyes and groaned in unison.

"Look, its clear we got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over. My name is, Kaitus. Kaitus Angelo Hiwatari. Its nice to finally meet you."

Kai nodded, understanding he was right.** "I'm Kai, Kai Keido Hiwatari. Same."**

"So, you're my missing cousin... Lin and my uncles told me." Kaitus paused, letting his mind unclog. "But why come after me, haunt me like that?"

**"You look like that monster."**

"What monster?"

**"Boris Balkov."** Kai seethed, his mouth burning like his tongue was poisoning it.

"The author?"

Kai felt sick, his jaw tense, clenching with anger. Realizing his newfound family member was waiting for him to say something, he simply nodded.

"I see. He made a quick buck off of your death then, huh?"

Kai nodded at that too. **"Plus some."**

"I'm so sorry. Boris, he sounds evil."

**"He more than sounds it."**

"Why do you think I look like him?"

Kai cocked his head to one side, really taking him in in the broad, overcast, daylight. It coming up about four o'clock now. **"You, have his purple hair and pronounced chin. Though getting a better look at you, you seem to have more of me, or maybe dad in you... Sucks to be you."**

"Aunty and uncle say that I look and act just like you."

Kai laughed and then with a smile said, **"Well shit, you're fucked."**

Kaitus returned the actions. "Am I now?"

The laughter subsided, giving way to the birds in the surrounding trees.

"Why can I see you? I'm not a medium." Kaitus began.

Kai pointed to one of the many surrounding street lamps that lined the path.

It clicked. "Ohhh, so that's why those never work. You suck'em dry."

**"Better than people."**

"Yes, but the janitor and grounds keeper hates you."

**"And I a Mr. Brooklyn Mansfield too, so we're one for one."**

Kaitus walked ahead of him and looked back at him. Kai smirked and then relaxed, his mind wondering as they walked in sync.

**"What caused your eating disorder? Something going on at home?"**

"My mother, she's constantly asking for money, was abusive, still is."

**"We're loaded, why is she doing that?"**

Kaitus looked at him. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

**"Yes."**

"Because she can. She says I owe her. Dad left her when he found out she was pregnant with me. Least that's what she says. I personally think it was a drunken fling."

Kai nodded, licking his lips. **"You'd be right. Aunty was a whore, she'd pounce on anything that moved."**

Kaitus turned green. "Ew, no, stop."

Kai snorted. **"So food-"**

"It's all I have control over... Before Lin showed up I was working two jobs and nearly on my own. Then, after a horrible argument one night, I ran away from home. Uncle found me sleeping on a park bench hours later and took me in. Sometime later he discovered how sick I was and we argued over that repeatedly. It was only after Lin showed up that I got help. Had to quit work because of it, now my savings are being dipped into. All but gone now though."

Kai eyed him knowingly. **"You like her... Pink and purple, how cute."**

"I do, I'm completely smitten."

Kai chuckled with a fond smile. **"Smitten with a kitten... Been there."**

"You liked Mariah? Blue and pink, how cute."

Kai shook his head with a laugh. **"Close, but no cigar, kid... Try blue on black, much sexier."**

Kaitus went wide eyed and grinned, completely in disbelief at what he'd just put together. "No way, you're crushing on uncle Ray?! Oh my god, that's somehow both adorable and disturbing at the same time!" Then he asked, not thinking anymore, "Did you think he was a chick? Because I can see that."

Kai's jaw went slack as they turned the first bend. **"Are you really going there? You know as well as I do that he is one hundred percent man."**

"Ahh, are you sure about that? Seen it all have you?"

Kai's face heated up, the steam in his ears nearly visible. **"You stick to your pussy and I'll stick to mine."**

Kaitus smiled wider, knowing he'd got him."Of course... You get that? I'm not leaving her side."

Kai pursed his lips. **"Really? Because that's not what I got from it."**

Kaitus rose a brow at him. "What do you mean?"

Kai's already stony face hardened further. **"You idiot, how do you think I knew to come out here? I was in the room!"**

"Gotcha."

After walking over a small slope, they stopped underneath a tall, but low lying tree. The lowest sets of branches brushed the tops of their heads slightly and partially concealed them from any would-be onlookers.

**"You listen good, you hurt my niece, I make your life all nine levels of Hell."**

"You already have. What more could you do, honestly?"

Kaitus let the weight of the silence and his harsh words sink in before speaking again. "Was I not clear earlier? I told you, I want nothing to do with you, I'm only helping her."

**"Then quell her fears, will ya? She feels alone in this, she's scared. That's why she's lashing out, grasping at any idea. Including that damned board!"**

"Then stop being a brooding, scary asshole, and help her find your peace... Use what little remains of your humanity to help, hm? Do something nice, instead of bothering the likes of me!"

The runner jogged off, heading back inside, leaving an ever-graying, noticeably colder Kai alone in the darkening space.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: The Bird

It was Sunday morning in the Hiwatari household, and the alarm on Ray Kon's phone was beeping.

Stirring, the man rolled over and shut it off. Seeing the sun was up, he yawned and got up. He walked downstairs and, while rubbing his eyes, saw Kai's mother in the kitchen. As per usual she was standing at the stove, cooking.

He sat at the table with Susumu who seemed to be going over some documents for whoever and whatever.

"Got a call from Kaitus last night." Susumu said, his eyes not leaving the splay of papers.

Misaki happily let out, "Oh? How is he?"

Ray listened quietly to the pair as they talked.

"He says he's fine, got some more food in him before bed."

Misaki heatedly turned around, her wooden, egg covered spoon aloft in her right hand while her eyes signaled that she was ready to pounce on the next thing that crossed her. "Are you absolutely _sure_ he ate and wasn't just lying like before?!"

Susumu looked up at her in tired defeat and said, "Yes, dear. He had mouthfuls of food and was chewing while we talked."

"Good." She deflated in relief and went back to cooking.

"Good morning, Ray." Misaki said, her usual smile back on her face.

"Good morning." Ray said, another yawn escaping.

"How'd you sleep?" Susumu asked.

"Fine." Ray lied, really he'd been up all night.

He'd sat in the dark pondering over what was written on the stationary, and the journal he'd found, not to mention the slew of unsent letters addressed to him.

Across town, Kaitus pushed himself away from the toilet, doing is best to breathe. Closing the lid to hide his shame, he flushed and stepped back out into his room. Wiping his face with a towel and throwing it in the hamper by the door, he made his way over to his closet. He pulled out his black tracksuit and put it on, along with the dark green sweater that made him look normal, like he did when he was signed out of the clinic.

In the back of the closet he spotted something he forgot he had, a bag of treats. Realizing he had an opportunity he grinned and grabbed the bag. He finished getting ready and left.

Lin stirred underneath the covers, her phone buzzing next to her. Grumpily she shut it off without looking. Who on Earth was contacting her so early on a Sunday morning?

There was then a set of light knocks at her door. And who on Earth dared _showing up_ early on a Sunday morning?!

With a groan she got up and made herself look kind of halfway decent.

"Yeah, yeah, hang on a second." She grumbled while moving, stiff as a board.

After a bit she shouted for them to come in, only to have her door slam open against the wall, and see Kaitus singing and dancing exactly like that loony frog from that old cartoon.

"'Hello, my baby! Hello, my honey! Hello, my ragtime gal. Send me a kiss by wiiire. Baby, my heart's on fiiire. If you refuse me, honey, you'll lose me. Then you'll be left alone. Oh baby, telephone, and tell me I'm your ooowwwnn!'"

As he went on Lin felt her face heat up in all the best ways while a goofy grin stretched her face. This was both silly and so sweet, and she loved every bit of it, her laughter bubbling over when he ended his garish greeting.

She wiped her watering eyes and said, "Well hello there. I so still think you should be in theatre."

Kaitus smiled back with a shrug, "Nah, not my thing."

"But you're so good."

He playfully scoffed, looking away for a second. "Only for you, none other."

She punched his arm, "Too early to play Romeo."

"If you say so. Come on, let's fatten up, Skittles." He showed her the bag of pet treats and she smiled brightly. He was such a caring person.

While Ray and Misaki cleaned up the kitchen, breakfast having been ate, there was loud, repetitive honking out front.

Susumu went from the bookshelf in the living room, dusting it, to looking out the window. He soon saw his nephew stepping out of the righthand side of the back of a cab.

"Kaitus is here." He looked at them and smiled, seeing that Kaitus was extending his hand back inside the car. "And he brought Lin with him."

He saw the other pairs of eyes light up, one set in particular. Words couldn't describe how much he loved seeing that. He went back to seeing the taxi drive off and Kaitus walking up to the house, Lin a shy step behind him.

"What a surprise!" Susumu said, beaming as he opened the door for them.

"Hello, uncle." Kaitus said, much less enthused, but Susumu knew better.

"I'm so proud of you!" After saying that, he looked at the two still standing in the kitchen, playfulness in his dark eyes. "Honey, its a miracle he remembered his manners!"

Misaki laughed, her hand covering her mouth. She turned to Ray and said, "My husband the joker."

Ray smiled sheepishly, "Yes, he's very goofy." Susumu's humor was awful.

He turned back, in slight shock, to see Susumu giving what seemed to be a congratulatory noogie to the young man while he was begging to be let go but still laughing all the while. He smiled at the sight, seeing how hard the man was trying to give him a stable home. Though he had his moments, he seemed to be better than he was before.

"Morning, Baba." Lin said with a soft hug. She felt him hug her back just as tight, feeling how much he missed her.

He kissed her head softly and let her go. "Morning, princess."

"Hey, darling." She looked at Ray hopefully. "Is that okay to say?"

Ray nodded back, "Its fine. I know how you two are. You're her other mother. Speaking of which, she's all yours, I gotta make a call."

With that he went by them and into the room he was temporarily occupying.

Within minutes he came back out to find Kaitus chatting away about something to his uncle, who looked genuinely intrigued, and the two girls still in the kitchen giddily gushing over recipes of some kind. All-in-all, this was nice to see, but he'd rather play it safe and stick with the men. Lest he risk hearing 'girl talk.' Nope, did it once, never sitting through that again. Granted, it was nice to hear a normally tight-lipped Mariah boast about how great he was in bed. Ha, he always knew that was the real reason she married him, you know what they say about big feet.

"How's Skittles?" Ray heard Kaitus ask his uncle as he approached them.

"Skittles is normal. Loud, misses you, hates me and your aunt like we abuse her."

Kaitus laughed at that. She sure was a diva, wasn't she?

"Who in the world are you all talking about?" Ray chimed in, his curiosity peaking.

The two looked at him and Kaitus spoke with a big ol' toothy grin, "Skittles. She's my pet bird. Wanna see her?"

"Sure, I love birds."

Susumu watched the two walk off toward he and Misaki's room. Then he turned toward the kitchen, deciding to jokingly bug the girls for a bit.

Ray walked into the room, his young nephew in the lead. He watched as he approached a roomy birdcage. In shock and awe, while the sunbeams streamed in through the window nearby, Ray noticed a familiar friend sitting inside the metal.

"It can't be..." Ray said, currently cemented halfway between the doorway and Kaitus.

"What can't be?" Kaitus opened the cage, letting his companion perch on his right shoulder.

"Just..." Icy blues met gold, both telling the other how they'd been since they last saw each other.

Ray smiled at them and said, "I've never seen such a beautiful bird before, its surprising."

"Made your morning, huh?"

"It certainly did." Ray noticed how healthy Dranzer looked, she was definitely in great care. Just like Kai, Kaitus was his own brand of manly.

"Wanna feed her some treats?" Kaitus held out the freshly opened bag to him.

"Sure." Ray made his way over, only to have the phoenix fly onto this arm.

The other looked on in shock. "Well, I'll be damned, Skittles never does that with anyone but me. Lin sometimes, but wow, she must really like you."

Ray scratched underneath her chin, making her coo in happiness. "Guess so."

While Kaitus filled a small bowl with some more feed and another with treats, he had Ray sit on the bed, putting the bowl next to him. Then he went to go refill her water.

When he came back in he heard Skittles chewing happily.

As Ray moved his hand away from Dranzer's beak he asked, "How'd you get her?"

"Uncle found her in the woods some months ago." Kaitus sat next to him, the bowl between them.

"In the woods? What woods?"

"A patch somewhere between here and school. Said she was just living there and he felt like she needed to come home. Not sure what he meant by 'needed to come home' but I'm not complaining."

"I see. Home has many meanings, including a sanctuary. Maybe that's what he meant." It was part truth, part lie but Ray felt he had to do this.

To him, Kaitus had no real reason to know who the bird really was. Its not like he played the game, but that was beside the point. If the wrong person knew, that could spell trouble and this family had already been through enough.

The squawking firebird kept the silence from getting too heavy, too awkward, and Ray was thankful for that. Dranzer flapped up into the air, landing gracefully on the bed beside the two, mostly to Ray's left. He happily sat the bowl in front of her, letting her have at it.

"How was therapy?" Ray wasn't sure what else to ask, his main question having been answered, but he was curious.

Kaitus stiffened and his gaze went to the floor. He could feel his body heat up as he said softly, "Therapy went fine. Typical stuff. Talking, eating, watching us like hawks. Nothing to report, just made good progress, got released."

Ray's face went stern. "You're lying."

Kaitus's eyes went back to him. "No I'm not."

Ray quirked a brow in frustration. "Uh-huh. Then look me in the eyes and say it again."

The older man was met with silence. "Just as I thought... You're not better, are you?"

Kaitus shook his head sorrowfully. "Please don't say anything. I can't go back."

"Why? From what Lin told me you were doing great. Just have a small list of rules to follow."

"It doesn't help me."

"Look." Ray got up and slid the door shut, cutting them off from the loud laughing some several feet away. "Kai suffered from an eating disorder when he was fifteen. I got him through his. You're about as stubborn as he was, but if I got him to eat properly again, I can you too."

"How? They, we've tried everything."

"With one little question... What foods _can_ you eat? Give me a list, I'll help ya."

"Whatever. Worth a shot. Long as it makes Lin happy I'll do it."

Ray smiled knowingly at him. "You like her don't you?" Kaitus went red and began to sweat.

Ray chuckled at that and added, "I'm not gonna give you a huge lecture or anything. Goodness knows you get that enough here, but its obvious. And you had better hold her heart carefully. In other words, tell her how you feel and don't be a Kai. You're better than that I can tell."

"Understood, uncle."

"You gonna let Skittles fly around?"

Kaitus snorted at that. "Yeah, she needs the exercise."

"I talked to him, yesterday."

"You see spirits too?"

"No, he made himself known to me, used the street lamps to keep himself solid."

"What did he say?"

"Just that I look a bit like Boris, but mostly his side of the family."

"The Hiwatari side?"

"Yeah."

"You think Boris is your dad now?"

"I don't care to know honestly. If he is, it's whatever. If he's not, that's great. But again, I could really care less. Doesn't change a thing."

Ray nodded. "You're growing into a fine young man."

"Thanks."

"Also, Lin's using a board to communicate with him. Is that okay? I mean, she knows how you feel about it, and I'm not trying to get her in trouble, I just wasn't sure, if, uh- Did you use one when you first started seeing ghosts?"

Ray went pale and said, halfway between rage and panic, "...I already told her not to touch stuff like that! Did you take it away? What happened?"

"I told her to but we argued, then Kai wouldn't really answer her questions. I think she got irritated at him, mad at me. We argued more and I stormed off. Kai came out after me, I'd gone for a run to blow off the seething steam. He told me to help her. I told him to actually show up, help her out too. He didn't seem too thrilled about the board either... What are you gonna do?"

Ray began to pace up and down, muttering to himself quietly. Mariah was going to kill him, hack off his nuts, this wasn't good. He had promised, up and down that Lin wouldn't be 'cursed' like he had been, but that went out the window pretty damn quick and now she was playing with fire here and he didn't know of a good way to stop her.

"Why was she even trying to communicate with him at all, like _that_? Did I not tell her that I would handle it?"

"She said that you said this was her first case. And she didn't want him to drain her dry of energy. If you ask me she needs to channel him, it'll make her stronger, but nope she's too good for hard work."

Ray scoffed at Kaitus's last comment, "Gets that from her mother." He muttered angrily as he continued to pace.

"I'll handle it, I said that, but I didn't mean she had to go off and try and do this on her own, she's not alone... She gets _that_ from her mother too."

Kaitus rolled his eyes, Skittles having finished her treats and nuzzling up to him, contently full, her pudgy belly distended. "Seems so. I'll run it by her. And we'll help where we can."

"How's Kai's room? It's the only other place to really stay, so..."

Ray stopped dead in his tracks as his face warmed slightly, "It was fine." He said quickly, pivoting on his heels and starting for the door.

"Should get back to that hell hole to take care of business."

"Right. When will we see you there?"

"I'll be there Friday, just do what you can to help Kai until then."

Kaitus watched as his pet flew off and out of the room. He sat up at that and said, "I'm not helpin' him."

Ray's face hardened, "Why not?"

"He's frightened me nonstop, only left me alone when you showed up! I don't care who he is, I'm not helping him. If you saw what I did-"

Ray sent him a stern look, "I've seen quite a lot and Kai's not that much of an ass. Put yourself in his shoes, how would you be, really?" He paused, doing his best to keep his head straight. "Listen, Kai's just angry and I'm sure he's sorry for doing what he did. Probably why he showed up. To both apologize and check on you, he must've sensed something was wrong."

Kaitus scratched the back of his head, that made sense, but still. "Then why didn't he just _say_ sorry?"

"Why haven't you told Lin you're in love with her?"

Kaitus blushed, "That's different."

Ray laughed, "No its not. You really are a Hiwatari, all of you men have trouble saying how you truly feel. You all say the most important things in subtle ways."

Kaitus groaned and flopped back onto the bed in embarrassment. This couldn't be happening. He hated being poked with the 'picking on you' stick, but at the same time, he loved it. It was one of the many ways those around him showed they cared.

"Where'd Skittles go?" Ray asked, seeing Kaitus sit up and get up.

The dual haired man shrugged and stepped up to Ray, running his fingers through his hair.

"Um, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"If I'm gonna help Kai, I don't want people associating me with Boris, will you help me dye my hair."

Ray smiled, "What color?"

"Jet black."

"What, no blue?"

Kaitus glared, "Stop it."

Ray laughed, "Not a chance." Then he walked off motioning for him to follow as he said, "Come on."

Kaitus went with him out of the room and into the kitchen. They needed to let someone know they were leaving, unfortunately.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Point Of No Return

Come Monday morning, Kaitus sat up, rolling with a groan onto the edge of bed. His traditional bedside table alarm clock in the midst of invading and conquering his eardrums.

As he reached to shut it off, moving the tiny switch on the top to the left, his shower turned on. The bathroom lights following a moment later.

He got his shower and headed out into the hall. The cold breeze hit him again, and like always, it was as if someone was blowing a fan directly on him.

Ignoring the feeling of firm eyes on him, along with the ever-rising and thickening goosebumps, Kaitus made his way to Lin's room.

He knocked and the door opened on its own. This chill then hit him again, this time much stronger than before, as if the fan was on full blast.

"Gooooood morning, Kaitus!" Lin sang from her spot in the bathroom, the door slightly ajar, leaving only thin rays of light streaming out along the floor and ceiling.

"Morning, Lin." He said, the grogginess still hanging onto him. Why did school have to start so early? This, was, bullshit!

"Did you sleep well?" Lin asked, coming out of the bathroom after a bit, finding Kaitus slouching slightly on the edge of her bed.

"Yup." He gut up and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "Ready to go, cutie?"

"Yup yup yup." Kaitus smiled at her joyous tune and led her out of the room like the classic gentleman he was.

"I still can't believe you dyed your hair. And then Skittles sat on your head, nearly pooped in your hair too." Lin said as the two pounded down the stairs in happy jogs, one flowing the other.

Kaitus laughed at that. "I've always wanted to, and don't remind me that was _so nasty_."

"Baba said that too, but still, why?"

They reached the bottom of the slightly crumbling, swirling steps, Lin coming up behind him, eyeing his ever-broadening back.

"I just wanted to." Kaitus told her, his gaze locked on an empty trophy case, the glass appearing to have been broken at some point, like someone had knocked it over.

"I need to go get something."

Kaitus turned and watched her go up the stairs. Was he really going to do this, help out someone he barely knew?

Thinking back again on what Ray had said, he felt sympathy mounting more and more on Kai's end. If he were in his shoes, seeing someone that resembled his murderer, he'd do all he did to him too.

Lin stepped into her room, closing her door as she stepped in.

At the flickering of lights a voice reached her ears, "**Hello." **

"Hello, uncle Kai." She said with a smile, spotting the solid figure sitting on the edge of her bed. "You sit like Kaitus."

Kai snorted, "**I get it, we're a lot alike, stop it." **

Lin giggled, "Understood. Gonna follow me a bit today?"

Kai shrugged, "**I may. See if someone can answer my question." **

"And what question is that?" Lin asked as she grabbed her purse by her bed.

Kai stood up and went up to her in a whooshy wisp. His mouth opened but before a word could be uttered, he vanished. All of her lightbulbs shattered as soon as he left.

"Ahhh!" Lin screamed as she crouched to shield herself.

Kaitus ran in and scooped her up, effortlessly pulling the small girl out into the hall.

"I gotcha... I gotcha." He told her quietly as he held her.

Murmurs reached her ears, making them twitch, and she tried to lift her head but Kaitus's hand kept it down.

Glaring a heat at the many eyes and whispers, he said, "What are you looking at? These dorms are old, faulty wiring... Scram, she's fine!"

The many dorm mates dispersed, their whispers not subsiding.

Kaitus made his way to the classroom, Lin behind him, only to be stopped by the grounds keeper outside.

"I'm sorry, you can't go in there, a meeting is in progress, and it sounds serious. Wonder what he did this time?" An ageless Brooklyn Mansfield said, his smile never faltering. God he was creepy, reminded him of Boris somewhat.

Kaitus scowled, "I know. We're the witnesses."

Brooklyn's already devilishly looking smile widened, "I see, well, head in."

He stepped aside, moving his trashcan on wheels with him while the two went in, the tail-end of Susumu's blunt voice hitting their ears.

Before they could say anything the principal had stepped in and told his employee not only what Mr. Kon and Mr. Hiwatari were stating but all he'd heard from the student body.

"Did I understand him right, is he really going to get fired?" Lin asked as she picked at her three-bean salad.

"Yeah. He's stepped out of line. I don't feel sorry for him, not one bit."

"I second that, it's just shocking."

Kaitus sent her a knowing smile, "You feel sorry for everyone, even those that do you wrong."

Lin scowled, "I do not."

"Yeah, sure, Kai scared the shit out of you and ruined your things, and you were the first to jump to his aid. Besides your dad."

"Speaking of Kai, he's not been very active. I asked him if he was going to follow me today. He said yes, that he was gonna see if anyone could answer his question. I asked what that was and when he went to tell me, the lights went bust."

"I see, my bathroom and shower turned on by themselves this morning."

Lin smiled at that, "Aww, he's trying to be helpful, how sweet."

Kaitus shrugged, "If you say so, still weird as hell."

"Keep away from me!"

At the shrill scream, Lin stood up and in fright, saw to see a female student running in the room. Her group of friends were quick to surround her at the front end of the cafeteria.

Lin ran up to American foreign-exchange-student, the group dispersing the moment she approached them.

"Anna-Lease, you okay?"

The tall brunette turned to the pinkette, tears streaming down her face. "I'll be fine. Got approached by a young man. He asked if I'd seen his body."

She wiped her eyes, sniffling as she continued, "That was so weird. Of course I'd said no. And then something went around my neck. An invisible hand, it choked me. He looked worried and reached out like he wanted to help me but as he reached out, the grip got tighter. As soon as I could I ran for it."

"What did the student look like?"

"He had blue and black hair with red eyes. Looked like the phantom everyone's talked about seeing."

Lin nodded, seeing that Anna-Lease was done talking to her, now chattering to her girlfriends. She went back to her table to see Kaitus talking to the their grounds keeper.

"Hi." Lin said as she went up to the two, clearly having interrupted them.

"My day is going fine, thank you for asking. Now I need to go get some food, got rules to follow." Kaitus said quickly, before hurriedly going off with Lin.

As they went into the lunch line, Kaitus paid for a ripe, red apple and then they left. Disappearing into the next block's crowd, mainly passing through the soup line.

"So much for getting information or the keys." Kaitus said, low enough to where only Lin could hear.

"You didn't eat? YOU DIDN"T EAT?!" Lin raged, ignoring all he'd said, as they walked the long hallway. Doing her best not to thwack him over the head. "This is the last time I let you go through lunch by yourself!"

Kaitus scowled and barked out, "Lin, I'm not a child!"

"Then quit acting like one." She spat back, having it up to here with his so-called _habits_. "Its clear you've been lying to me!"

"Lin, I eat, okay. Just very little and not in front of others." He stopped, her doing the same, and tossed her the apple.

"You're a medium. You need this more than me." With that said and the apple caught, he swiftly headed on down the hall to his locker, out of her sight.

Lin made her way to her locker too, avoiding the man she called her friend.

Lin made her way to her room, the smell of smoke prominent again.

"Was that really needed? This morning, and then this afternoon with one of my peers?" Lin asked, angrily closing the door and throwing her stuff onto her bed.

Kai soon appeared, standing at the foot of her bed, only appearing from the waist up.

"**I wasn't sure what else to do. This is what seems to happen when I make myself known. The shadows of my past follow me and I hurt people." **

Lin took in an exhausted breath and said, "Just, play it chill. Don't be so blunt. Don't ask it upfront."

Kai gave her a hard look. Was she serious? "**In my years, don't you think I've tried that a time or two?" **

"I see."

"**I just want to rest."** Kai told her, defeated and deflated like many times before.

"I know." Lin wished she could do more, but this wasn't as simple as opening a psychic door. Kai had to be at ease, then find it on his own.

"Do you know where you're body might be?" She asked after a bit. They had to start somewhere, properly start looking, and where better then the victim.

"**It's in the forest, beyond the fence. Other than that, I don't exactly know." **

Lin looked at him in disbelief. Men, seriously, how dense. "Are you serious? You didn't look down at your body, really take in your surroundings?"

Kai growled out, his eyes like daggers, "_**No**_**, I didn't **_**think**_ **to **_**look down**_**." **

Lin relaxed, feeling bad. Now she'd done it. Damn her stupid mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you still want my help?"

Kai looked out the windows unsure of how to answer that. Besides finding his peace, he wasn't sure what he wanted. Then he vanished, leaving his lovely niece all by her lonesome.

* * *

Having called his uncle Susumu to be checked out, Kaitus wondered the streets in search of the bookstore. Walking a another street of shops and turning another corner, he soon found it.

Going in, Kaitus was met with the smell of old and new books along with brewing coffee and the sound of soft, warm sounding, swing jazz.

Going through the True Crime section, running his fingers along the multitude of spines, he found what he was looking for. Holding it in his hands it took all he had not to puke. Buying this, knowing who a margin of the proceeds went to, was sickening.

"Why, hello young man."

At the voice, an icy chill ran through him, making every ounce of heat he had leave his body. This couldn't be happening!

Looking up, his notions were confirmed, and Kaitus found himself feeling cornered. This section was small, kind of boxy really. And, because of who was hovering over him, Kaitus had nowhere to run. He was unable to get away. Oh, how lucky was he? Again, this couldn't be happening.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: The Master, Part 1

"Ah, a young man with good taste, I haven't come across one of you in long while."

Kaitus swallowed at the man's deep voice. The tone the old man used made his insides churn and twist into hard knots. It wasn't the happy sound, no that was fine, it was the sultry tone beneath it that made him want to puke.

Pushing it down Kaitus said plainly, "I'm buying this for a friend."

"Whose your friend?"

Kaitus scowled, not liking this at all. But where could he go? What to do?

The man smiled and said, "Forgive me, I've forgotten my manners." He gave Kaitus a light bow and with that same sinister looking grin, he said, "My name is, Boris Balkov."

Kaitus shrugged, but than an idea hit him. Maybe befriending this psychopath would help? If he got close, he could make a direct path for the others, for Kai, to get to him. Lin had filled him in on things, and he had more or less felt useless since they'd argued over how to do this. Yes, this was her thing mainly, but she couldn't afford to fuck up. That was just his opinion though, but who was he to say it?

Kaitus smiled, and put on his best face. "I know. My apologies, I'm just socially awkward."

"Ah, its alright." Boris said, extending a hand.

He took Boris's hand and shook the living daylights out of it. He was hoping to make it sore, all while making a mental note to drown his own appendage in one hundred percent alcohol later. "Its a pleasure to finally meet you! Big fan, really. I read my friend's copy, which got found by her father. Boy, he wasn't too happy. Anyway, he burned it, so I'm buying her another one."

Boris retracted his aching limb and said, hiding the annoyance, "I see. That makes sense."

Before the gentleman could take his leave, Kaitus ran in front of him and animatedly said, "Um, may I get the amazing author a coffee?"

Boris shrugged, what could a coffee hurt? But why did something so promising have to turn out so bad? This was gonna suuuck. He smiled and said, "Of course, I'd love one."

Watching the man walk up to the cafe, he smirked. Maybe this wouldn't be a total loss.

"Thank you." He muttered under his breath, following the familiar looking man.

Lin ignored the knocks on her door, and the dorm president's calls for her to go back to class. With a groan the president left and went down the stairs. Laying curled up on her side, she listened to the steps. Her hearing picked up that they were heading into the main office. Yup, she'd be getting a visitor soon. The only question remaining was _who_.

With a somber sigh she rolled off the bed and got in the shower. Maybe being clean would keep her levelheaded, especially with what was to come in a bit.

Thinking it over, maybe this visit would bode well, maybe she could get some guidance on what to do next?

With coffee gotten and both sat at a corner table some feet above the stores red carpeted floor, Boris listened attentively as his newfound fan listed off all he knew about him and boasted about his 'glorious, splendid' story.

"I'm serious, its great! How did you ever come up with it? I gotta know."

With every word spoken, Kaitus could see his head inflate, Boris's ego expand. This was killing him, but it had to be done. He had to be of some use to her, some help.

Boris laughed, his eyes beaming with excitement. _This_ was why he did what he did, the thrill, the admirations, he couldn't get enough!

"Well- I'm sorry. What was your name again?"

Here was the turning point. Once he did this, there was no going back, no hiding himself away.

"I never gave it, oops. My name is, Kaitus. Kaitus, uh, Unami, sir."

"Ah, quite a lovely name. Kaitus. It rolls right off the tongue like silk."

Oh, that did it. Hearing that snake's tongue slither out his name made bile come up, but he swallowed it back down, taking a big gulp of coffee to mask the action.

"Well, Kaitus Unami, I take inspiration from a lot of things, my life included. All of my books, minus one, has a bit of truth in them." He put a hand over his heart, "You should know that people spread lies, say things about me. Don't believe them, I love all of my fans, and I'm honored if I've helped you in anyway. Know that I am exceptionally grateful, indebted to you, and would never take advantage of you at all."

"Well, that's nice to know." Kaitus flashed him another bright smile, trying to think of what to do next.

As Lin made her bed and picked up here and there, there was a knock at the door. Opening her door, she saw her 'hero' standing there.

Speedily sweating bullets, she said, "What's up, baba?" She then gave him a sheepish grin as she stepped aside for him.

"I got a call that you were being insubordinate. What happened?" Ray made his way inside, closing the door behind him.

Lin sat on the edge of her bed, her father coming up behind and doing the same as she spoke. "Kai happened."

Ray nodded, urging her to continue. "And?"

Lin looked at him, panic-stricken, "And what? Baba, he scared a student, caused a scene! It was awful!"

Ray took a breath, "Ok, what happened after that?"

"Then Kaitus and I argued." She scored, "He didn't eat! Again, can you believe that?! After that I don't know where he is. Probably in class."

Ray shot her a look, "Like you should be?"

She sheepishly smiled at him again.

At her embarrassed face Ray sighed tiredly. Maybe this was a mistake. Letting her go here.

"What happened after that?" He asked after a bit, not letting all of his emotions slip through, just concern. Concern for her, her safely and sanity.

"Um, Kai showed up. We talked, and then he left."

"What did you two talk about?"

"I asked him if what he thought he did was really necessary? He said he wasn't sure what else to do. That the shadows of his past, or some shit, come back to haunt him every time he tries to reach out for help, and they hurt people. Then I gave him some advice, but he said he'd already tried that. Sarcastic asshole! Anyway, after that I asked him where his body was and he said it was in the forest beyond the fence, but exactly where he wasn't sure. I got mad and spouted off. He got mad and spat back, then I felt bad and asked him if he still wanted my help and he just vanished. Not a word! How jerky is that?!"

Ray flicked her twice in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Lin said, rubbing the flick spots as they throbbed.

"First off, stop swearing. You're in front of me, not Kaitus. I'm raising a lady. Second..." Ray paused, his jumbled mind doing its best to keep the things he just learned straight. "Like I told Kaitus, put yourself in Kai's shoes. Twenty years of trying to get help. I'm sure he's tried all he could think of."

"What do I do, baba? I wanna succeed at this, but I'm lost."

Ray went down and pulled the Ouija Board out from under her bed. He knew her so well at times it was funny, typical teenagers.

Lin broke out into a sweat again, "Sorry, dad."

Ray's gold eyes slit ferociously at her. He tossed the board onto the floor, pulled out a lighter from his pocket, and put it to the wood. As it cracked and popped, he let her have it.

"Kaitus told you-"

Ray held up a finger, instantly making her snap her trap shut. "Don't you dare pin this on him! How many times have we, have _I_, told you, warned you, to stay away from them?!"

"A lot." Lin mumbled, shrinking into herself as her father's temper flew. He didn't get mad often but when he did, you didn't want it directed at you that was for certain.

"Yes, I did. Now why?"

"Why what?" Lin said, her eyes starting to tear up. She wasn't sure if he meant why she did this, or if he meant why he'd warned her to begin with, the reasons he'd given long ago.

While Ray didn't need an answer, really he didn't want to even hear it, he wanted Lin to say it. Own up to her mistakes, be the lady he knew she was behind this bratty behavior. Never mind, he'd got it

"_Why_, did you do this? Knock on the Devil's door so casually? _You know better_! For Byakko's sake, you were _so lucky_ Kai was who answered, and I'm sure he was just as pissed as I am! Might be why he was so moody with ya! One more time... You knock, the door _will open_, and you have to deal with what's on the other side. You _can't go back_. You're dealing with souls here, no games, no _easy way_... Am I clear now?"

Lin vigorously nodded, on the verge of crying like the toddler she felt herself to be.

"Good. Two weeks."

"Two weeks? Come on, baba, that's totally unfair." Lin whined out.

"You want a month? Keep back-talking. You know better. It'd be different if you didn't, but you do. So, two weeks. I'll tell you what you're grounded from later."

"Grounded? Oh, come on, Kaitus was involved too."

"Really? Did _he_ urge you to do this? Did _he_ tuck it under your bed... Did he?" While all that was plausible, he knew these two better than even they knew themselves.

"No, he didn't. It was all me."

Ray nodded, "Mhmm, I know. Because he was still pissed when he told me. Granted, I think it was by accident. He blabs when he's angry. But more to the point, its why he left then and it's why he left today... I understand you're scared. But that was not the best way to go about it."

"Then _what do I do_?"

"Let events unfold on their own. Kai will come to you. And if you want him instead, just call him."

"I don't want him to drain me dry."

"He won't, at least not too much. Kai's the type of ghost to drain from around him more than the source."

Ray tucked her hair behind her ears with a soothing smile, "Just make sure to drink plenty of water afterwards and build up your endurance, by calling on him more directly, that way he's got a bridge to you."

He looked around the room, "Like this. Kai?"

Moments later Lin's lamp was harshly shoved into the floor by an invisible hand.

"Was that needed? Seriously, get out here." While Lin jumped at it, Ray wasn't fazed, he just stood up.

"Come on, its okay." Ray urged, ignoring the fact that he wanted to run out for air. The atmosphere was pushing down on him, like ten pound cinderblocks would on a pillow. Whatever was going on, this couldn't be good.

"Lin?" Ray asked, his breath leaving him.

"Yes?"

Ray extended a hand and she took it. Hurriedly he pulled her from the bed to him, his arms going around her protectively.

"Why is the room so heavy?"

"I, I don't know. Just, st-stay close, to me."

Lin looked up at him and nodded, something gripping at her chest from the inside out.

Ray slowly, step by step, led them out of the room, only to have thick blood flow along the floor from under the door.

As it pooled in, flooding the room like water, Ray backed up with Lin in toe. Both went to higher ground, huddling on the bed.

"What is this, The Shining?" Ray said, doing his best to stay calm.

"... Baba?"

He gave her a soft look, and said, "Stay calm, as calm as you can. Let me handle this."

He would've made her leave but if one exit was blocked, no doubted the others would be too. The blood flow ceased, the room wreaking with the smell of it.

In the middle of it, a shadowy figure rose up through the floor. The thick and runny crimson flowed down and dripped off. Then the entire pool was gone as quickly as came, but the smell was still there, unfortunately.  
When the red had faded, being sucked down through the floor as if it were a big drain, the room looked as it did before.

As the sun's light shined in through the window, Kai stood firmly, scowling silently halfway between the door and them, looking as he did at the age of fourteen... Only much more sinister.


	13. Chapter 13

**Reupload! **

**I had some problems so here's the updated version. XD **

**Emi, I hope you enjoy this, and know that there's certainly more to come in the near future! ^^ **

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: The Master, Part 2**

"What the hell was that all about?" Ray screamed, moving with a bounce from his spot on the bed. It was just Kai, phew. There was no danger, he could relax. That didn't stop him from being angry though.

Lin, however, chose to stay put. Could her Baba not sense it, the mounds of negative energy around him? This, who, whatever it was, it wasn't Kai.

"I demand an answer Kai," Ray spat.

In the intensifying quiet, his keen eyes finally picked up on the subtle shifts in the air. Okay, maybe he couldn't let his guard down.

The entity didn't utter a word, nor did they make a motion. Standing stiff, the eyes steadily went from carmine brown to hollow pools of seemingly endless onyx. The room became unbearably icy, the thermostat drastically dropping into the single digits. Life and any sense of happiness was sucked out of the room and subsequently those inside it. He could see in the aged ally's eyes that he'd realized what they were dealing with. Then the fear set in. Oh, _this_ was going to be so much fun.

* * *

Kaitus slowly paced along the isles of Stephen King and Tim Burton books, Boris not too far behind. This was such a weird isle. Who the hell thought to put these two in one area? Apparently a non-reader, and even if you didn't read, most knew the differences between the two. It was just no and no on so many levels.

Spotting someone behind a nearby Costumer Service desk, he decided to stop, as did Boris. Ok, this wasn't fun anymore. Something was up, but what?

He turned to the author and donned a bright smile, "For someone who is so busy, you're not in a hurry to leave. I've got some more errands to run, okay, so I'll see ya 'round."

Boris smiled at him and said, "I'm taking an easy one. No writing today."

"That's nice but what does that have to do with me?"

"I was wondering, if you'd like something to eat. You treated me to coffee so..."

Kaitus put on his best sad face and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't today. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Ah, yes, tomorrow? Yes? Sounds lovely."

"I said tomorrow, and it's a _maybe_ not a yes."

"As far as I'm concerned you said yes because you did, and who doesn't want free food?" Boris turned to leave, knowing he'd won this match. "See you tomorrow, son."

Ignoring the last word, Kaitus anxiously gulped. Once that man was out of sight he let out a breath he'd been holding. Fuck, what had he gotten himself into? Clearly this guy was dangerous. More-so than he initially thought. This was definitely a Russian Roulette kind of game, meaning he had to be even more on his guard, or he'd end up just like his cousin.

* * *

The entity smirked maliciously, its flesh acting as if it were made of rubber.

"Let her go," Ray demanded, his eyes slit. It was one thing to trap him, but his daughter? Just what did Kai think he was going to gain by doing this?

The demon tilted its head to one side, a playful, knowing grin stretching its creepy face further. It could feel their fear, see how much they wanted to get away, and it was utterly delicious, delightful.

Zeroing in on the girl, the specter stepped forward, eating her up with his eyes.

Ray's heart pounded relentlessly and rivers of cold sweat ran over him. No, no, anything but a demon. He knew Kai had a darkness, many shadows following him, but he never thought he'd run into _her_ again. They were truly at the threshold of Hell, and he got the feeling they'd be getting a firsthand venture.

"Let's play a game, shall we?" the entity slithered out, it's devilish face unchanging, a glint in its eyes.

Just then, disembodied voices from outside the room captured its attention, distracting it for a minute. That gave Ray enough time to grab the bushel of sage from his pocket and throw it on the floor, some flecks hitting the spirit.

It sent Ray a seething glower as it seared away, letting out a bloodcurdling scream afterward. It was as if it was being burned alive. Then, it vanished into a wisp of smoke, leaving the surprisingly cunning humans be.

In minutes the room turned back to normal, nothing to suggest that anything had just went on.

While Ray went to hold his hysterical baby girl, rocking her every now and then, he couldn't help but think about the year so far. As much as Kai needed her, maybe it would be best if she went home. At least until Friday.

In the grand scheme of things, it appeared that strings were still being maneuvered about, and despite all of his good, Kai wasn't free from this second set of chains. _She_, his own personal torturer, still had a hold of him. Black Dranzer, was here, and it seemed she wanted it to be permanent.

**To Be Continued... **


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